CBS News unveiled anchor changes at two of its best known programs Monday morning, a radical maneuver that underscores how its programs have fallen behind rivals at a time of heightened competition.
The network will overhaul both "CBS This Morning" and "CBS Evening News," adding two new anchors to host the morning program with Gayle King, who has been at the A.M. desk since 2012, and putting her co-anchor Norah O'Donnell behind the chair at the evening newscast. A third "Morning" co-anchor, John Dickerson, will move to "60 Minutes." Jeff Glor will step down from his role as evening-news anchor. CBS' "Morning" and "Evening" have been mired in third place for years, and have recently seen viewership erode in light of anchor changes made over the past 18 months.
The moves represent the first big bet by Susan Zirinsky, who took over as president of CBS News in March, to revive a storied news brand. CBS News has one of the most hallowed lineages in the business - it is, after all, home to "60 Minutes." But ratings at many of its programs have dipped thanks to talent switches made in the wake of the late-2017 ouster of Charlie Rose. Rose was accused of unwanted sexual behavior, and fired from his "CBS This Morning" post. CBS News replaced him with John Dickerson, who had hosted "Face The Nation,"and added a fourth anchor, Bianna Golodryga. Margaret Brennan began a new tenure at "Nation" at a time when Glor was struggling at "CBS Evening News."
The results have been lackluster. "CBS This Morning," launched in 2012, was a success story for CBS. It gained in the ratings, and began to grow more competitive with NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America" with a narrower focus on news of the day and a mandate to avoid some of the more frivolous elements of morning TV. Since Rose's departure, however, it has fallen behind. CBS News recently named a new executive producer for the program, Diana Miller. "CBS Evening News" and "Face The Nation" have also been in decline.
O'Donnell will become just the third woman to get a solo berth hosting one of the big broadcast-network evening-news programs. She follows Diane Sawyer's stint at ABC's "World News" and Katie Couric at "CBS Evening News." Judy Woodruff currently anchors PBS' "PBS NewsHour." She has also been named managing editor of the evening broadcast and a "60 Minutes" contributor.
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