Norah O’Donnell Sets Date For Her Final ‘CBS Evening News’ Broadcast As Anchor

Norah O’Donnell’s final night anchoring the CBS Evening News will be January 24, the CBS network’s news division told its staff Friday, which will bring to an end her five-plus-year run as well as the show’s run in Washington, D.C.

In July, O’Donnell said she planned to exit the anchor chair after the 2024 election, segueing to a new role as senior correspondent doing high-profile sit-down interviews. Her last day comes four days after Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second POTUS term on January 20.

The move also ushers in John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois taking over as lead anchors beginning January 27 as the CBS Evening News returns to New York as its home base after five years D.C.

O’Donnell’s planned exit is part of broader changes being undertaken at the nightly newscast and the news division. CBS Evening News executive producer Adam Verdugo stepped down in early September, with Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, adding duties as supervising producer of the nightly news broadcast.

In addition to the new format, the plans are to infuse the broadcast with more 60 Minutes content and and ensemble of correspondents, who will be filing for the Evening News “when they have big news to break,” wrote Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News and Stations, when Dickerson and DuBois were announced. Dickerson and DuBois will be based in New York, with a group that includes Margaret Brennan regularly leading coverage from D.C. and Lonnie Quinn providing weather segments.

Other changes at CBS News include Adrienne Roark and Jennifer Mitchell taking on expanded roles as part of a new leadership structure. Roark will serve as president of editorial and newsgathering for CBS News and Stations, assuming the responsibilities of Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, who had stepped down as president of CBS News. Roark will lead field and newsroom and newsgathering teams as well as CBS News Radio.

O’Donnell’s first show as anchor was on July 15, 2019. Previously, she had been co-anchor of CBS This Morning and, before that, the network’s chief White House correspondent.

At the time she announced her plans to leave, she said, “It’s time to do something different,” she wrote in a memo to staff. “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.”

She added that she has “made a long-term commitment to CBS News to continue to do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark. I will continue to contribute to Evening News and all of our news broadcasts, including 60 Minutes.”

Dominic Patten contributed to this report.