National Public Radio's chief executive is stepping down, the network's board of directors announced Thursday.

Ken Stern, who spent 10 years with the company as chief operating officer and chief executive officer, is leaving by "mutual agreement," the board said in a statement. Chairman Dennis L. Haarsager will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.

The board did not give a reason for Stern's departure.

Stern said in a statement that he was proud of NPR's journalistic and financial achievements during his tenure.

Founded in 1970, NPR is a nonprofit membership organization that distributes news, talk and entertainment programming via some 860 independently operated public radio stations around the country. (Associated Press)

CBS News hired veteran producer Shelley Ross to become more competitive in the morning, but her stormy tenure ended after fewer than six months at "The Early Show."

There had been reports of widespread dissatisfaction and staff turnover since she began in early September. Without disclosing why or commenting further, CBS News President Sean McManus tersely announced Thursday she was leaving.

Rick Kaplan, executive producer of Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News," will take over until a permanent successor is named.

Ross did not immediately return messages for comment left on her cell and home phones.

"The Early Show" perpetually lags in third place in the morning ratings behind NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America." But CBS has recently put more effort into improving the show, and persuaded several affiliates starting in January to ditch a format that allowed them to substitute local news for much of the two-hour national feed.

Viewership for "The Early Show" has increased this season by 3 percent over last year, with its competitors relatively flat. But with an average of 3 million viewers, the CBS show's daily audience was a little more than half of the "Today" show's 5.6 million.

Ross is known as a fierce competitor and idea person who had spent four years as executive producer of ABC's "Good Morning America," where she was credited with bringing the show back from a ratings cliff. But her combative personality wore thin and she was yanked from the show in 2004, eventually leaving ABC News.

She made changes quickly upon arriving at CBS, setting up a separate booking department to more aggressively go after guests. But her style led to turnover and dissatisfaction reportedly grew on the part of anchors Harry Smith and Julie Chen.(David Bauder, AP)

The Ohio and Texas primaries turned out to be more super than Super Tuesday for CNN.

The cable news network averaged nearly 3.7 million prime-time viewers Tuesday, outdistancing its rivals and capturing a larger audience than the Super Tuesday primaries of Feb. 5, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox News Channel had just under 3 million viewers and MSNBC had 2 million as viewers continued to show strong interest in the campaign. The cable networks benefited from the absence of ABC, CBS and NBC, which had live coverage of Super Tuesday returns but stuck with entertainment programming this week.

On typical nights, CNN trails Fox in viewers. But for Super Tuesday, New Hampshire and Potomac primary coverage, CNN has risen to the top, Nielsen said.

Both CNN and MSNBC beat Fox Tuesday in prime time among viewers aged 25 to 54, the demographic group most sought after by advertisers in news programming. CNN had just under 1.6 million viewers in that demographic, MSNBC had 876,000 and Fox 830,000, Nielsen. (AP)

E! has picked up a series that will follow the work and family lives of the Lohan family -- just not its most famous member.

The cable channel will debut the series, tentatively titled "Living Lohan," this summer. The show will focus on Lindsay Lohan's mom/manager, Dina, and her younger sister, 14-year-old Ali, who is trying to make a name for herself in show business. Brothers Cody, 11, and Michael, 20, also will appear, although Lindsay will not. (Zap2it.com)

Add a guest appearance on "My Name Is Earl" to Paris Hilton's illustrious list of acting credits.

The star of such cinematic gems as "The Hottie and the Nottie" and "Bottoms Up" will have a cameo on the NBC comedy when it returns to the air next month. She'll be part of a dream sequence in which Earl (Jason Lee), who's unconscious, finds events and people in the outside world seeping into his head.

The hour-long episode, titled "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends," marks the return of "My Name Is Earl" after the writers' strike. It's scheduled to air April 3. (Zap2it.com)

With only one comedy yet given the go-ahead for next fall's schedule, the CW network is eliminating its comedy department as part of layoffs affecting more than two dozen employees.

The CW has renewed one comedy for next year, "Everybody Hates Chris." The critically-acclaimed sitcom "Aliens in America" is on the fence.

It doesn't mean the network is out of the comedy business, the CW insisted. It's a recognition that, as of now, one-hour dramas and reality series like "America's Next Top Model" are working best in the ratings. (Associated Press)

NBC's upcoming series "Fear Itself" will feature Superman and one of "Mad Men's" women, and the directors of "American Psycho," "Re-Animator" and three of the "Saw" movies are on board as well.

The show, a suspense and horror anthology a la Showtime's "Masters of Horror" (and hailing from some of the same producers), is slated to premiere later this year. Its 13-episode run will feature installments directed by the likes of Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator"), Mary Harron ("American Psycho"), John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London") and Ernest Dickerson ("The Wire," "Heroes").

Among the actors signed to the show are Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns") and Shiri Appleby ("Charlie Wilson's War") as a young couple who moves to an eerily idyllic subdivision; Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men") as a rookie cop who's baby-sitting a serial killer in her precinct's cell; and Eric Roberts ("Heroes") and Cynthia Watros ("Lost") in an episode about a private eye staking out a haunted house. (Zap2it.com)

The most mild-mannered action hero in TV history will be back on TNT late this year.

The cable network has begun production on the third installment of its "Librarian" franchise, with former "ER" star Noah Wyle reprising his title role. The movie, titled "The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice," is scheduled to premiere in late 2008.

Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin will reprise their roles as well, and Bruce Davison ("Knight Rider," "X-Men") and Stana Katic ("Heroes") will join the cast for the new film. Jonathan Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"), who helmed the second "Librarian" film, is also returning as director.Both previous "Librarian" films have scored strong ratings for TNT. The first film, in 2004, drew better than 7 million viewers, and the 2006 sequel pulled in 6.2 million viewers. (Zap2it.com)