Grapevine

By PAUL GRAY/

CHANNEL HOPPING? Ted Koppel's contract with ABC expires at the end of this year, and colleagues say he is being wooed mightily by CBS to replace Dan Rather. Koppel is very close to CBS News President David Burke, a former ABC executive who helped negotiate his current lucrative contract. CBS would be willing to tailor its evening news to Koppel's on-camera strengths, emphasizing interviews over canned news items -- a change that would set CBS's offering apart from its rivals'. Koppel has never craved an evening anchor post, but the chance to re-invent the format could prove irresistible. A spokeswoman says, "No one but Ted and his wife knows what his plans are when his contract expires."

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS