Ted Johnson
·4 min read
CBS Evening News will be revamped after the election, with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois anchoring from New York and leading an ensemble that includes Margaret Brennan regularly leading coverage from Washington, D.C. and Lonnie Quinn providing weather segments.
Norah O’Donnell, who has anchored the newscast for the past five years, announced earlier this week that she is stepping down after the election to serve as a senior correspondent focused on major one-on-one interviews and longform reporting.
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In addition to the new format, the plans are to infuse the broadcast with more 60 Minutes content and correspondents, with that show’s executive producer Bill Owens expanding his role and serving as supervising producer of the evening newscast. Correspondents from the show will be filing for the Evening News “when they have big news to break,” according to a memo that went out to staffers today from Wendy McMahon, the CEO of CBS News and Stations.
The changes are a departure from the solo anchor format that has been a standard feature of CBS Evening News throughout its history, save for a brief and ill-fated effort to pair Connie Chung with Dan Rather in the 1990s.
CBS Evening News also will return to Manhattan, where it has traditionally been based. Shortly after O’Donnell became anchor in 2019, the show was moved to the nation’s capital, hoping to stand out from its rivals.
“With Norah’s decision to take on a new role at CBS, we’ve decided to rethink and redesign the Evening News, driven by our goals to maximize the power of our people and our most important franchises, to produce courageous and distinctive journalism that informs and enlightens, and finally, to compete aggressively… on broadcast and beyond,” McMahon said.
Owens will continue to serve as executive producer of 60 Minutes, but he had previously served as senior broadcast producer of the CBS Evening News when Bob Schieffer was anchor.
“As supervising producer, Bill will manage the overall editorial direction of the broadcast, infusing 60 Minutes’ DNA and values into the program while introducing a new format and team,” McMahon wrote.
The revamp reflects the latest evolution of broadcast networks’ evening news broadcasts, which once were influential in setting the national conversation. The migration of audiences to a plethora of different options has eroded the audience, albeit CBS Evening News, in third place to its broadcast rivals, still commands a larger viewership than much of cable news.
Throughout the news business, though, there has been extensive focus on costs, and CBS News is expected to go through another round of cutbacks, given the overall plans for Paramount Global. O’Donnell already had to take a pay cut when her last contract was negotiated in 2022, according to sources, and there has been increasing pressure on other on-air talent. The move to a multi-anchor format also signals the shift away from the star anchor, commanding a lavish salary and serving as the face of the network itself.
In announcing the new format, CBS News emphasized its “ensemble of journalists,” as McMahon said that the goal is “to elevate the best in their fields every night for our viewers.” Steve Hartman will continue the “On The Road” segments and Jim Axelrod will continue “Eye on America” reports, with plans for additional correspondents to contribute regularly.
Dickerson will continue to anchor on CBS News 24/7, the network’s streaming service. He previously served as moderator of Face the Nation, co-host of CBS This Morning and 60 Minutes correspondent.
DuBois also will continue to anchor at WCBS-TV, where he has worked since 2004.
Quinn will deliver weather news and forecasts from a new AR/VR studio, and he also will continue to have a presence on WCBS. Brennan, who is chief foreign affairs correspondent, also will continue in her role as moderator of Face the Nation. She has hosted that broadcast since 2018.
The network also said that Guy Campanile, a veteran producer at 60 Minutes, will become executive producer of the CBS Evening News. Jerry Cipriano will return to CBS News as senior news editor and senior producer of the broadcast.
In a statement, Owens said that the broadcast “won’t be the traditional headlines that move from one clipped story to the next. There will be a new format and cadence for how we deliver the news, and Guy and Jerry are the best partners to do this with.”
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