Newsman Harry Smith leaving CBS for NBC

FILE - In this May 25, 2010 file photo, Harry Smith appears on CBS's "The Early Show" in New York. Smith is leaving CBS News after 25 years to jump to NBC. NBC said Friday, July 8, 2011, an official announcement of his new job at the network will come on Monday. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

By The Associated Press

July 8, 2011 2:14 PM PT

NEW YORK —

Newsman Harry Smith is leaving CBS News after 25 years to jump to NBC.

NBC said Friday that an official announcement of his new job at the network will come Monday.

Smith had two separate stints as an anchor for CBS’ morning news show, totaling 17 years on the early riser beat. He was abruptly taken off that job at the end of last year when CBS decided on wholesale changes to the perpetually third-rated broadcast.

Smith joined CBS News in Dallas in 1986.

CBS News President David Rhodes said in a memo to network staff that Smith was a “fixture” at the network.

He said that “if you saw Harry’s piece closing the “CBS Evening News” that first Monday after the Japanese tsunami, you know what great work he is capable of.”