NEW YORK — CNN said Monday that it has hired Campbell Brown of NBC News to anchor a nightly news and talk show, one day after she announced on "Weekend Today" that she would be leaving as host there.

Brown won't be on the air until at least November _ a month before she's due to deliver her first baby _ and CNN wouldn't say exactly where she will land.

There has been widespread speculation about a prime-time shake-up at CNN, where Paula Zahn has been lagging in the ratings at 8 p.m. Brown could fill her slot, although the network has also discussed bringing Lou Dobbs into prime-time to compete against Bill O'Reilly at Fox News Channel and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC.

If that scenario were to play out, Brown would likely land at 7 p.m., putting Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room" at 6.

Brown, 39, had been co-host with Lester Holt of "Weekend Today" since 2003 as well as correspondent and occasional fill-in anchor on NBC's "Nightly News." She's a former White House reporter who also covered the 2000 presidential election for NBC News.

Jonathan Klein, CNN U.S. president, said he wanted to release the news about Brown's hiring as soon as he could after she told viewers she was leaving "Today."

"We didn't want to remain mute after Campbell said goodbye on the air," he said. "We wanted to embrace the fact that she's coming. We're thrilled about it."

Brown was considered a potential successor to Katie Couric for the weekday "Today" post, a job that went to Meredith Vieira.

She said she could have stayed at NBC News _ her contract expires on Thursday _ but it would be doing much the same thing. She was intrigued by the chance to build her own show from scratch.

"I get that what I'm doing carries risk," she said. "You know, I made a choice, and I do understand that. But I wanted the challenge."

If all goes well for Brown's health, CNN would face a situation where a new anchor leaves to give birth shortly after she starts. Brown said she hoped to be back in time for the big presidential primaries in early February.

"We wish Campbell the best," said Allison Gollust, NBC News spokeswoman. "We'll have an announcement on her replacement in the coming months."

Several different anchors _ and potential successors _ will try their hands filling in. They include current NBC News correspondents Natalie Moralies, Hoda Kotb, Contessa Brewer and Amy Robach.

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CNN is owned by Time Warner Inc.; NBC by General Electric Co.