Monday, November 4, 2024

Norah O’Donnell Triumphs Over Naysayers and Tabloids, Signs New Deal to Stay at CBS News

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If I were the New York Post, I’d get a new media business reporter.

Three times since last October the Post’s Alexandra Steigrad produced features promising that CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell was on her way out. No one liked her, she had a bad attitude, she spent lots of money, and so on. And her ratings were terrible.

So guess what? O’Donnell — who I think is terrific — has just signed a new deal to keep anchoring the CBS Evening News through the 2024 elections. She’ll host most of CBS News’s other important specials as well. And she’ll keep doing it from Washington, DC, where she moved the show because that’s where she lives, as well.

The Post surmised that O’Donnell would be replaced by CBS Mornings co-host Tony Doukoupil, and that Gayle King would exit “CBS Mornings,” too and go…somewhere else. King signed her new deal to stay in place back in January.

It must be exhausting to be so knowledgeable!

“CBS Evening News” plays on CBS radio every night, and because of that, it’s usually tbe best written of the three nightly network newscasts. It’s my first choice followed by Lester Holt on NBC.

Ratings for all three shows including “ABC World News” with David Muir are less than they were during the tempestuous days of the Biden-Trump election and the early pandemic. But they’re still the go-to half hours when the world is in turmoil, as it is now, and for breaking news. Their demise is greatly exaggerated.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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