Vieira's New View

Meredith Vieira, the new co-host of NBC's "Today" show, listens to a question at a New York news conference, April 6, 2006. Already flashing signs of an easy rapport with Matt Lauer, Vieira was introduced Thursday as his future "Today" show partner. Vieira will replace Katie Couric, who a day earlier was named anchor and managing editor of The CBS Evening News.

Meredith Vieira, the new co-host of NBC's "Today," and Jeff Zucker, CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group, address a New York news conference on Thursday, April 6, 2006. Zucker says Vieira has intelligence, grace and humor, making her a perfect fit for a morning talk show. Vieira has spent the last nine years on ABC's daytime show "The View," and her news background includes a stint on CBS' "60 Minutes."

Ann Curry, right, news anchor of NBC's "Today," comments at a news conference introducing Meredith Vieira, seated center, as the show's new co-host, Thursday, April 6, 2006, in New York. NBC chose Vieira over several internal candidates, including Curry. Flanking Vieira are "Today" co-host Matt Lauer, left, and Jeff Zucker, CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Meredith Vieira of ABC's "The View" gets a kiss from her husband, Richard Cohen, at a New York news conference on Thursday, April 6, 2006. A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC announced it had chosen Vieira as Matt Lauer's new partner on the "Today" show. She joins a distinguished legacy of "Today" show co-anchors, from Barbara Walters to Jane Pauley to Couric.

Meredith Vieira, the new co-host of NBC's "Today" show, shows off her birth certificate and passport as proof she is 52 years old during a New York news conference on Thursday, April 6, 2006. A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC chose Vieira as Matt Lauer's new partner on "Today."

Meredith Vieira, the new co-host of NBC's "Today" show, interacts with Matt Lauer at a New York news conference on Thursday, April 6, 2006. Already flashing signs of an easy rapport with Lauer four months after their first "blind date," Vieira was introduced Thursday as his future partner on "Today." She met Lauer at his apartment for dinner in December.

NBC's "Today" co-host Matt Lauer, second left, poses with Meredith Vieira, second from right, the show's weatherman Al Roker and newswoman Ann Curry at a New York news conference on Thursday, April 6, 2006. A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC has chosen Vieira as Lauer's new partner on "Today."

Meredith Vieira, the free-spirited veteran newswoman on daytime TV chat show "The View," will replace Katie Couric as co-host of NBC's "Today," the network said on Thursday, April 6, 2006. Official word of the move came a day after Couric announced she would leave "Today" after 15 years on that show and assume the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News.

Meredith Vieira, left, and her co-hosts on ABC's "The View" salute their co-host, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, center, after she revealed she was pregnant on the New York set of the show on Sept. 23, 2004. Left to right, they are: Vieira, Star Jones, Hasselbeck, Joy Behar and Barbara Walters. After nine years, Vieira said she expects to leave the daytime talk show at the end of May to become the new co-host of NBC's "Today."

Meredith Vieira, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters, Star Jones Reynolds and Joy Behar, standing left to right, of ABC's "The View," present an award at the 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at New York's Radio City Music Hall on May 20, 2005. Vieira won a Daytime Emmy as host of the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Meredith Vieira attends a news conference on the soundstage of her show, "The View", in New York on May 7, 2002. Katie Couric told viewers on Wednesday, April 5, 2006, she would be leaving NBC to join CBS and become the first woman to solo anchor a network evening newscast. One day later, Vieira was named as the morning show's new co-anchor.

Meredith Vieira is shown during a visit to her alma mater, the Lincoln School in Providence, R.I., on May 4, 1985. The Rhode Island native worked more than 10 years at CBS, becoming only the second woman to be a correspondent for 60 Minutes. She joined ABC in 1993, becoming a co-host of it sdaytime talk show, "The View", in 1997. In 2002, Vieira was named host of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire."