NBC News is dropping "Dateline NBC" anchor Stone Phillips in a cost-cutting move when his contract expires at the end of June.

Phillips won't formally be replaced. His co-anchor, Ann Curry, will continue and other "Dateline NBC" reporters will serve as on-air hosts when the newsmagazine presents stories they're working on, the network said yesterday

"It's been a wonderful 15 years," Phillips said in a statement issued by NBC. "I'm profoundly appreciative of the many friends and colleagues, past and present, who have been a part of the 'Dateline' family. This is a great news division with a bright future. I wish the people of NBC News all the best."

He didn't immediately return a call for further comment.

Phillips was teamed with Jane Pauley, who left NBC in 2003, for much of his time at "Dateline NBC." At its peak, the newsmagazine churned out as many as five episodes a week.

The newsmagazine is probably best known now for reporter Chris Hansen's "To Catch a Predator" series nabbing suspected pedophiles. On NBC's fall schedule, the newsmagazine has only one permanent time slot -- on little-watched Saturday night. It will be on three times a week in June.

NBC News has been restructuring to cut costs. Earlier this spring, it didn't renew the contract of "Nightly News" weekend anchor John Seigenthaler.

The Phillips move was similar in that the network is concentrating money on reporting and more versatile personalities. Seigenthaler, for example, was replaced by Lester Holt -- who's also host of "Weekend Today." Curry is a newsreader on "Today" and reporter for "Dateline." (David Bauder, Associated Press)

'Jericho' junkies unite
We were on to the "Lost" legion and "Heroes" worshippers, but who knew there were also "Jericho" junkies?

A "Jericho" online movement is afoot to bring back the just-canceled CBS drama, starring Skeet Ulrich. The show, which explored the aftermath of nuclear attacks in the United States, seemed like it was going to be one of the TV season's hits, but a large chunk of its audience disappeared during its winter hiatus.

CBS, like the rest of the networks, announced its fall lineup last week, and the network decided to cancel "Jericho" because the show had "lost its engine," CBS president of Entertainment Nina Tassler said.

Since then, passionate "Jericho" fans have organized and bombarded the network with letters and e-mails that state feelings, such as, "This show has touched us like no other before" and "CBS has cast aside a gem in Jericho."

An online petition, www.jericholives.com, already has 60,000 signatures. One fan even wrote a Bring Back Jericho poem and posted it at jericholives.com/fight.htm. Other fans are sending nuts to CBS executives, inspired by a line of dialogue in the season finale (www.nutsonline.com/gifts/jericho.html).

Tassler was so moved by the response that she posted a letter to the fans on www.cbs.com, her spokesman, Chris Ender, said.

"She was touched by the letters and e-mails she's received because they each had independent voices," Ender said. "It was not an organized cookie-cutter type campaign. She was touched by the thoughtfulness of the response and wanted to directly respond to them."

In the letter, Tassler told the fans that she also loved the show: "We truly appreciate the commitment you made to the series and we are humbled by your disappointment. In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the 'Jericho' story."

CBS executives will meet this week to discuss how the network can let the fans know how the "Jericho" story would have ended. (Maria Elena Fernandez, Los Angeles Times)