Pelley out, Mason temporarily in as CBS News anchor
NEW YORK — CBS’ effort to brand itself as the home of hard-edged newscasts has been a success in the morning, not so much in the evening — and “CBS Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley paid the price for it with his job.
The network announced Wednesday that Pelley will return full-time to “60 Minutes,” the flagship newsmagazine where he divided his time in the six years since he replaced Katie Couric as evening news anchor. Twenty-year CBS veteran Anthony Mason will fill in on the evening news until a permanent successor is chosen.
The transition has already been a little messy: CBS had intended to announce it next week, but when workers began packing Pelley’s belongings at his evening news office into boxes Tuesday night, word of his departure spread.
With its influence diminished at the turn of the decade, CBS News sought to mould its newscasts in the meatier image of “60 Minutes.” It named the newsmagazine’s most influential correspondent, Pelley, as evening anchor and installed the team of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell at the newly named “CBS This Morning.”