Courtesy © CBS Broadcasting Inc
Norah O'Donnell announced on Tuesday that she will be stepping down as the anchor of "CBS Evening News" following the presidential election. O'Donnell, who has held the position for five years, shared her plans with her CBS News colleagues via email, expressing her eagerness for a new chapter.
Courtesy © CBS Broadcasting IncHaving served as the network's top anchor since 2019, O'Donnell, 50, previously hosted CBS' morning news show and was a White House Correspondent during President Barack Obama's administration. Reflecting on her time at CBS News, she mentioned the challenges of the daily broadcast and the continuous news cycle, stating, "It's time to do something different."
Although she will remain with CBS News to conduct interviews and contribute to other stories, her new role has yet to be clearly defined. CBS assured that the "CBS Evening News" will continue but did not reveal who will take over as anchor.
Historically, the "CBS Evening News," once led by icons like Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, ranks third in network ratings behind ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “Nightly News.” According to Nielsen, during the week of July 15-21, ABC averaged 6.8 million viewers, NBC had 5.5 million, and CBS garnered 4 million.
Before the rise of cable news, the evening news anchors of the three major networks were among the most influential journalists on television and remain significant today.
O'Donnell mentioned that a recent interview with Pope Francis, which became her first prime-time special for CBS, inspired her to pursue new opportunities. She will focus on interviews across CBS's various broadcast and digital platforms in the future.
Wendy McMahon, CBS News Chair, praised O'Donnell's unique talent, saying, "Norah’s superpower is her ability to secure and then masterfully deliver unparalleled interviews and stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist."
