SAUSAGE FEST

Female Network News Anchor Is Replaced by Two Men

The switch came days after Norah O’Donnell abruptly announced she would leave “CBS Evening News.”

CBS News plans to turn CBS Evening News into a man’s world. The network announced Thursday it would install John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois as the anchors of Evening News after O’Donnell departs the program following the election. Weatherman Lonnie Quinn will become the show’s chief weathercaster, and though the show will return to New York, it will feature regular reporting from D.C.-based Face the Nation star Margaret Brennan. The new cast came two days after O’Donnell abruptly announced her exit from the CBS staple, which has languished in third place behind ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC’s Nightly News. The network’s new plan leaves every broadcast evening news show with a male host, joining the likes of David Muir and Lester Holt. It also returns the program to its roots; O’Donnell was only the second woman to permanently host Evening News solo, following Katie Couric’s five-year run. Connie Chung co-hosted the program with Dan Rather for two years between 1993 and 1995.