Ted and Tyra's Synchronized Exits

Ted Koppel and Tyra Banks have so much in common, it's only fitting ABC should announce the date of Koppel's final appearance on "Nightline" the very same day CBS announced Banks's final runway appearance on its Victoria's Secret fashion show.

And, further solidifying the karmic convergence of the King of Late-Night News and the Queen of Late-Night Fantasies, they will take their final bows exactly two weeks apart -- to the day.

ABC News yesterday made official what had been widely speculated for some time: Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran will co-anchor "Nightline" when Koppel leaves the show, which will happen the night of Nov. 22.

Marty & Our Gang take over on Nov. 28.

Though we have been told in the past that the "Nightline" folks are not aware of the dates of so-called sweeps ratings periods, Koppel's bow-out, which is sure to grab a big crowd, falls in the November ratings derby, as does the debut of the new "Nightline," which no doubt will attract a good number of curious news junkies.

How lucky for "Nightline," which has slowly but steadily been losing viewers in the sweeps since the start of this millennium.

On Dec. 6, precisely two weeks after Koppel's last "Nightline" appearance, CBS will broadcast the triumphant return of "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," which, while infused with its usual bouncy, festive holiday spirit, will be marked with some sadness when Banks makes her final fashion show appearance for the well-known undies-and-so-much-more company.

Koppel is a TV pioneer who broke new ground at "Nightline" when it debuted as a regular ABC show on March 24, 1980. Originally a series of late-night news specials called "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage" (and first anchored by Frank Reynolds), "Nightline" made waves as a live, single-subject news program and is widely credited, as Reuters recently noted, with helping usher in the nation's demand for round-the-clock news.

Koppel reportedly is going to announce when he leaves "Nightline" that he will be doing something for pay cable network HBO.

Banks is also a TV pioneer, and her name is synonymous with Victoria's Secret. Like Koppel, Banks broke new ground in the world of media. She was the first African American model to grace the covers of both GQ and Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issues, as well as the Victoria's Secret catalogue.

Banks went on to create and executive-produce one of a very few shows that have put a whole network -- UPN -- on the map. "America's Next Top Model" is averaging 4.8 million viewers this season -- to Koppel's 3.7 million. Banks also has a syndicated daytime talk show, which is averaging about 1.7 million viewers.

Victoria's Secret hopes it can fill the void created by the departure of the spectacularly voluptuous Banks with "the next generation of Victoria's Secret 'Angels' "--to wit, "new modeling sensations" Selita Ebanks and Izabel Goulart, who will be making their VS fashion show debuts on CBS. This is kind of like asking Jennifer Love Hewitt to stand in for Audrey Hepburn. Oh, wait -- some network tried that.