CBS Evening News (PatrZDZ's vision)

The **CBS Evening News** is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The CBS Evening News is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature stories and interviews by CBS News correspondents and reporters covering events around the world. The program has been broadcast since July 1, 1941, under the original title CBS Television News, eventually adopting its current title in 1963.

Since June 8, 2015, the nightly broadcast has been anchored by Scott Pelley and has been titled **CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley**. Previous weeknight anchors have included Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Connie Chung and Bob Schieffer.

The CBS Evening News airs live at 6:30 p.m. in the Eastern and 5:30 p.m. in the Central Time Zones and is tape delayed for the Mountain Time Zone. A "Western Edition", with updated segments covering breaking news stories, airs pre-recorded at 6:30 p.m. in the Pacific Time Zone and 5:30 p.m. in the Alaska time zone and on tape delay in the Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone.

As of March 2023, CBS Evening News remains in second place of the three major television news programs, with 7,250,000 total viewers.

## History

### Early years (1941–1948)

Upon becoming commercial station WCBW (channel 2, now WCBS-TV) on July 1, 1941, the pioneer CBS television station in New York City broadcast two daily news programs, at 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. weekdays, anchored by Richard Hubbell. Most of the newscasts featured Hubbell reading a script with only occasional cutaways to a map or still photograph. When Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, WCBW (which was usually off the air on Sunday to give the engineers a day off), took to the air at 8:45 p.m. with an extensive special report. The national emergency broke down the unspoken wall between CBS radio and television. WCBW executives convinced radio announcers and experts such as George Fielding Elliot and Linton Wells to come to the CBS television studios at Grand Central Station from the radio network's base at 485 Madison Avenue, to give information and commentary on the attack. The WCBW special report that night lasted less than 90 minutes, but it pushed the limits of live television in 1941 and opened up new possibilities for future broadcasts. As CBS wrote in a special report to the FCC, the unscheduled live news broadcast on December 7 "was unquestionably the most stimulating challenge and marked the greatest advance of any single problem faced up to that time."

Additional newscasts were scheduled in the early days of the war, including War Backgrounds (December 1941–February 1942), World This Week (February–April 1942), and America At War (March–May 1942). In May 1942, WCBW (like almost all television stations) temporarily suspended studio operations, which resulted in the station sharply cutting back its live program schedule, and resorting exclusively to the occasional broadcast of films. This was primarily because much of the staff had either joined the military service or were redeployed to war-related technical research, and to prolong the life of the early, unstable cameras which were now impossible to repair due to the wartime lack of parts.

In May 1944, as the war began to turn in favor of the Allies, WCBW reopened the studios and the newscasts returned, briefly anchored by Ned Calmer, followed by Alan Jackson, Everett Holles, and Dwight Cooke. After the war, expanded news programs appeared on the WCBW schedule. The station's call letters were changed to WCBS-TV in 1946. Anchors included Bob McKee, Milo Boulton, Jim McMullin, Larry LeSueur, Tom O’Connor, and, beginning in 1947, Douglas Edwards.

### Douglas Edwards (1948–1962)

On May 3, 1948, Edwards began anchoring CBS Television News, now a regular 15-minute nightly newscast on the CBS television network, including WCBS-TV. It aired every weeknight at 7:30 p.m., and was the first regularly scheduled, network television news program featuring an anchor. (WCBW/WCBS-TV newscasts prior to this time were local television broadcasts seen only in New York City.) NBC's offering at the time, NBC Television Newsreel, which premiered in February 1948, was simply film footage with voice narration.

The network also broadcast a recap of the week's news stories on a Sunday night program titled Newsweek in Review, which was later moved to Saturday and retitled The Week in Review. In 1950, the nightly newscast was renamed Douglas Edwards with the News, and in September the following year it became the first news program to be broadcast simultaneously on the East Coast and West Coast through the installation of a new coaxial cable connection. That transcontinental link prompted Edwards to start each broadcast with the updated greeting "Good evening everyone, coast to coast."

On November 30, 1956, the program became the first to use the new technology of videotape to time delay the broadcast (which originated in New York City) for the western United States.

### Walter Cronkite (1962–1981)

On April 16, 1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Edwards, and the broadcast was retitled Walter Cronkite with the News. On September 2, 1963, the newscast, retitled CBS Evening News, became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast on network television and was moved to 6:30 p.m. Eastern time (NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report expanded to 30 minutes exactly one week later on September 9, 1963). As before, some affiliates (including flagship owned-and-operated station WCBS-TV in New York City) had the option of carrying a later edition, scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. NBC also allowed this practice for the Huntley-Brinkley Report, with ABC later following it for the ABC Evening News (now ABC World News Tonight). The networks ended this practice after 1971, although some affiliates – mostly in larger markets – continued to carry the national newscasts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on a half-hour tape delay.

The CBS Evening News was first transmitted in color as a one-evening test broadcast on August 19, 1965, before permanently switching to the format on January 31, 1966. Cronkite's prime time special report, Who, What, When, Where, Why, broadcast on February 27, 1968, ended with his declaration that the United States could only hope for a stalemate in Vietnam. It is often credited with influencing Lyndon Johnson's decision to drop out of the race for President. "If I've lost Walter Cronkite ... [I]'ve lost Middle America", he stated.

Under Cronkite, the newscast began what would eventually become an 18-year period of dominating the ratings among the network evening news programs. In the process, Cronkite became "the most trusted man in America" according to a Gallup Poll, a status that had first been fostered in November 1963 through his coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

In late 1972, Cronkite prodded the show's producers to feature two nights of lengthy explanation on the Watergate scandal, which had been extensively covered by The Washington Post, but had not received major national coverage. After the first half of the report, shown on a Friday, ran for 14 minutes, roughly half of the air time of the broadcast, White House officials complained to CBS founder William S. Paley. The second half of the report was aired the following Monday, but only for eight minutes.

### Dan Rather (1981–2005)

#### 1981–1993

Cronkite was replaced as anchor of the program the Monday after his retirement, March 9, 1981, by 49-year-old Dan Rather, who had been with CBS News as a correspondent since the early 1960s and later became a correspondent for the network's newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Concerns about excessive liberalism in the media were frequently leveled at Rather, the CBS Evening News, CBS News, and CBS in general. Some of these concerns dated from Rather's position as White House correspondent for the network's news division during the Nixon administration.

On September 11, 1987, Rather marched off camera in anger just before a remote broadcast of the program when it appeared that CBS Sports' coverage of a U.S. Open tennis semifinal match between Steffi Graf and Lori McNeil was going to run over into time allotted for the newscast. Rather was in Miami covering the visit to the city by Pope John Paul II. When the tennis match ended sooner than expected at 6:32 p.m. Eastern Time, Rather was nowhere to be found, and six minutes of dead air followed before he returned to the broadcast position; nearly half of the audience watched and waited. Rather attempted to explain his actions with a statement release on Sunday, but made no mention of it on his next newscast on Monday, delayed by the men's final. By 1990, the CBS Evening News had fallen to third place in the ratings, behind ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

#### Connie Chung as co-anchor (1993–1995)

On June 1, 1993, CBS News correspondent Connie Chung began co-anchoring the broadcast with Rather. Chung normally co-anchored in the studio with Rather, but sometimes one of them appeared on location, while the other remained in the studio. Though Rather never said so publicly, CBS News insiders said he did not approve of her appointment. Chung's last broadcast as co-anchor was on May 18, 1995.

#### 1995–2005

The newscast returned to a solo anchor format on May 19, 1995, with Dan Rather continuing in his role as anchor. At age 73, Rather retired from the Evening News on March 9, 2005, exactly 24 years after succeeding Cronkite.

Rather left the anchor position amidst controversy and a credibility crisis over reports broadcast during the 2004 presidential election campaign. Subsequently, CBS commissioned an independent inquiry into the matter and several CBS staffers were fired or asked to resign.

After departing from the Evening News, Rather remained with CBS News as a correspondent. On June 20, 2006, CBS News President Sean McManus announced that Rather and CBS had agreed to end his 44-year career with the network.

### Bob Schieffer (2005–2015)

On March 10, 2005, Rather was succeeded by Face the Nation host and CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer. At the time Schieffer took over, it was uncertain how long he would host the broadcast, whether it would retain its current structure, or instead adopt some kind of multiple host or alternative format. Under Rather in the years leading up to his retirement, the CBS Evening News trailed its rivals at ABC and NBC by a fairly large margin.

In the months following Rather's departure, the program came to emphasize live exchanges between Schieffer and various CBS News correspondents around the world. In contrast to traditional network news practice, these exchanges were unrehearsed as part of an effort to make the language on the broadcast sound more "natural". Viewership increased over this period, with the program being the only network evening news broadcast to gain viewers during 2005. In November 2005, CBS announced that CBS Evening News executive producer Jim Murphy would be replaced by Rome Hartman, who took over in January 2006. Schieffer led the CBS Evening News to become the #2 evening news broadcast, ahead of ABC's World News Tonight.

On September 5, 2006, a new graphics package and set, and a new theme composed by Academy Award-winning composer James Horner were introduced. Similar graphics and music would be introduced on other CBS News programs such as Up to the Minute, CBS Morning News and The Early Show throughout the month of October. A new opening title sequence was designed, with Walter Cronkite providing the voiceover, replacing Wendell Craig unless a temporary voice-over was needed. Following Cronkite's death months earlier, actor Morgan Freeman recorded a new voice-over for the title sequence, which debuted on January 4, 2010.

On May 18, 2009, the newscast's graphics were overhauled, using a blue and red color scheme with web-influenced motifs and layouts. The new graphics design featured a look influenced by the graphics that CBS used during the 2008 presidential election coverage.

On April 8, 2015, Schieffer announced his intention to retire as anchor of CBS Evening News and host of Face the Nation while speaking at his alma mater, Texas Christian University. Schieffer departed after working in journalism for 52 years, 46 of those years with CBS.

Bob Schieffer's final CBS Evening News program was broadcast on May 29, 2015. Harry Smith served as an interim anchor until Pelley's tenure started on July 6, 2015.

### Scott Pelley (2015–present)

On July 6, 2015, the graphics were subtly updated, the American flag background on the news set (which had been used since the 2008 elections, this was last used on Harry Smith interim anchor episodes until 2011) was replaced by a replica of the globe fixture during the Cronkite era, and the James Horner theme was replaced by the 1987–91 theme composed by Trivers-Myers Music that was used during the Rather era.

A rebranding of the program was unveiled on August 29, 2022, featuring a world map motif (a design that has frequently been used in CBS News programming as an homage to Walter Cronkite's era) and elements of the CBS brand identity first introduced in 2020. As part of the rebrand, the show introduced a new theme composed by Antfood, which is an arrangement of the Trivers-Myers theme that incorporates Antfood's sonic branding for the network.

## Weekend editions

The CBS Evening News expanded to weekend evenings in February 1966, originally anchored by Roger Mudd. The Sunday edition of the program was dropped in September 1971, when CBS began airing 60 Minutes in the 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (5:00 p.m. Central) slot in order to help affiliates fulfill requirements imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Prime Time Access Rule. The Sunday edition returned in January 1976, when the network moved 60 Minutes one hour later to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, where that program remains to this day (except when the NFL on CBS is scheduled to air a doubleheader).

CBS correspondent Russ Mitchell currently anchors the Sunday edition of the CBS Evening News. Mitchell, along with Harry Smith, John Roberts and Jeff Glor are also currently substitutes for Pelley on the weekday edition of the CBS Evening News. The Sunday edition airs a half-hour earlier than the rest of the week's broadcasts at 6:00/5:00 ET/CT (as a result, the majority of CBS affiliates that air an early evening newscast on Sundays will air it and the Sunday edition of the CBS Evening News in opposite fashion from how they are aired Monday through Fridays). The Saturday editions, at 6:30/5:30 ET/CT, are anchored by Jeff Glor.

Weekend newscasts are often pre-empted for CBS Sports telecasts, most notably coverage of the National Football League. However, an anchor will deliver updates during a break in the action if major news develops.

## International broadcasts

In Australia, the program is shown daily on Sky News Australia at 11:30 AM Monday to Saturday, and at 12:30 PM on Sundays. In New Zealand, Sky News broadcasts the program live at 1:30 p.m. local time.

In Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, CBS Evening News is broadcast on American Network.

CBS Evening News is shown on Sky News to viewers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia at 12:30 AM and 5:30 AM GMT.

In Japan, the CBS Evening News is shown on BS-TBS as part of that network's morning news program.

The Evening News is broadcast live on ATV World in Hong Kong daily.

Belize's Tropical Vision Limited occasionally airs the program as a substitute for its airing of the NBC Nightly News on Saturdays and occasionally during the week.