Clayson joins Gumbel's new show

Jane Clayson doesn't want to talk about whether she drinks caffeinated beverages and she dislikes telling reporters her shoe size, but she can't wait to meet the "ordinary people" who think that hanging around a streetside TV studio is a great place to be at 7 in the morning, and wants to learn everything about their lives.

Clayson, 32, a Los Angeles-based correspondent for ABC News, on Wednesday was officially named Bryant Gumbel's new sidekick.

She and Gumbel will host CBS's morning news program, "The Early Show," which debuts Nov. 1 from a storefront studio that the network is building at the southeast corner of Central Park.

Meeting Gumbel, she told reporters Wednesday, was "like seeing an old friend - we just clicked."

Eighteen years Gumbel's junior, Clayson says she watched him while she was in high school. "Everybody watched Bryant and Jane. That's how you started your day - he's an institution," she said.

And if she's half as successful as Gumbel's other Jane - Pauley that is, with whom he hosted NBC's "Today" show from 1982 to 1990 - "I will be pleased and very grateful," Clayson said.

Reporters were eager to learn something about Clayson, about whom little has been said by CBS except that she's been with ABC News since 1996 and earlier worked in local news in the Salt Lake City market.

Clayson clammed up on personal questions. Which isn't good, because the morning news audience likes to feel up close and personal with its stars - or it doesn't watch.

CBS brass have been scouting for a female co-anchor since May. Friedman says they looked at 300 tapes and spoke with 100 candidates before making their only offer to Clayson.

Though Clayson's background is in hard news, she said she's looking forward to meeting "ordinary people."

"I love to hear about their lives and interests and what motivates them," she said.

And the meet-and-greet aspect of the show is very important, Friedman said. After people glad-hand with Gumbel and Clayson, they'll go home and watch, and so will their relatives.

"It's almost like retail television,'' he said. "You win fans one at a time."

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