The “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell announced on Tuesday that she would step down from the anchor role after this fall’s presidential election.
Ms. O’Donnell will become a senior correspondent at the network, and told colleagues in an email that she had signed “a long-term commitment” to CBS News. Her new role will include “big interviews,” she said, and will be featured on a number of programs, including prime-time specials and “60 Minutes.”
Before taking the reins of “Evening News” in 2019, Ms. O’Donnell, who is 50, spent several years as a co-host of the CBS News morning newscast.
“It’s time to do something different,” she wrote in her email. “This presidential election will be my seventh as a journalist, and for many of us in this business we tend to look at our careers in terms of these milestone events.”
Ms. O’Donnell’s looming departure is the latest move for a network confronting a wave of change. Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, the former president of the news division, said this month that she would step down from her position as well and leave the company entirely after the election.
Ms. Ciprian-Matthews suggested in a note to employees that she was leaving before the news division’s parent, Paramount Global, underwent widespread job cuts, which are expected to happen this summer. Additionally, Paramount is in the midst of a merger with Skydance, which could result in additional layoffs after that deal is completed at some point next year.
Wendy McMahon, the chief executive of CBS News, Stations and CBS Media Ventures, told colleagues on Tuesday that the network would remain “committed” to “CBS Evening News” and that she would share more on the network’s plans for a replacement soon. Ms. McMahon has not yet announced a new CBS News president.
The evening news anchor used to be one of the most prominent jobs in American journalism, with titans like Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings reading off the news to a huge audience every weeknight. But in recent years, as viewership habits have rapidly shifted away from traditional network television and toward digital, the job has diminished in stature.
Under Ms. O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” has remained in third place in the ratings, just as it has for many years. During the most recent second quarter, “CBS Evening News” averaged 4.4 million viewers compared with the 5.7 million that watched “NBC Nightly News” with Lester Holt and the 7.2 million who tuned into “World News Tonight” with David Muir.
When Ms. O’Donnell took over the anchor chair, CBS moved “CBS Evening News” to Washington after broadcasting it for more than seven decades from New York. It is not yet clear if CBS will move the show again.
Ms. O’Donnell has landed some big interviews recently, including a sit-down with Pope Francis in May, which turned into a segment for “60 Minutes,” as well as a prime-time special.
“I don’t need to tell you what a transformative time our business is facing,” Ms. O’Donnell told colleagues. “I see this as an opportunity.”
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