ABC taps Gibson to anchor ‘World News’

updated 7:01 p.m. ET May 23, 2006

NEW YORK - Continuing a remarkable period of upheaval at the top ranks of broadcast news, ABC appointed Charles Gibson on Tuesday to replace Elizabeth Vargas as anchor of its hard-luck “World News Tonight” evening newscast.

Gibson starts Monday, and will continue on “Good Morning America” until the end of June. Vargas, who is pregnant, will return to “20/20” when she comes back from maternity leave in the fall.

With “World News Tonight” slipping in the ratings, ABC News can now position Gibson, 63, as the experienced hand against NBC’s Brian Williams, 47, and Katie Couric, 49, who takes over at the “CBS Evening News” this fall.

“He has a wealth of experience, as well as an established relationship with the audience,” said David Westin, ABC News president. “They know him, they trust him, they respect him. That would be an important factor here, no matter who the competition was.”

The move marks a reversal from last fall, when ABC News was thrown into turmoil by the death of Peter Jennings. In searching for a successor after decades of declining influence and viewership for the evening news, Westin said his vision for the job — frequent travel and separate newscasts for the Web and West Coast television — was too much for one person.

Westin tried to install Gibson as interim anchor until Vargas and Bob Woodruff could take over, but Gibson balked at a short-term role. So the job went directly to the dual anchors — who were in place less than a month before Woodruff was seriously hurt in an Iraq bombing.

Westin said he had to choose between his twin anchor idea “or going back to a one-anchor format with Charlie and I concluded that Charlie was the one who should take us forward at this point.”

Now Westin is removing Gibson from “Good Morning America” when it has an opportunity to make a move on NBC’s leading “Today” show, with Couric leaving next week.

While the evening newscast is a network’s flagship, they have an older audience and limited advertiser appeal. The morning news shows are where the money is made; “Today” show is by far NBC’s most profitable program, earning some $250 million a year.

(MSNBC is a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft).

Changes abound at anchor desks
Gibson’s appointment should end a period of rapid turnover at the evening news. It started when Williams replaced Tom Brokaw at NBC in December 2004. Jennings became sick with cancer the next spring and died in August. At CBS, scandal-scarred Dan Rather was ousted and replaced temporarily by Bob Schieffer, who has seen ratings jump. He’ll give way to Couric in the fall.

Westin was criticized in some circles for not moving faster to shore up “World News Tonight” after Woodruff’s injury. Westin said the move was timed to keep Gibson on “Good Morning America” for the full TV season, which ends this week.

Scrapped, for now, are the separate West Coast broadcasts. Gibson will take over the “World News Tonight” afternoon Webcast. He will have the job for an indefinite period of time.

“Because of circumstances, one joyous — Elizabeth’s pregnancy — and the other terrible — Bob’s injury — it didn’t work out,” Gibson said. “You look into the bullpen and you find the guy who’s sitting there and stick him right in.”

Gibson, however, cautioned that “I’m not [star Yankees pitcher] Mariano Rivera.”

Woodruff, who suffered serious head injuries, will need many more months of recovery time and his return will be gradual, Westin said. “He’ll always have a role on this program as an anchor — if and when he’s ready for it,” Westin said.

Woodruff, in a statement, called Gibson a mentor and friend: “I look forward to contributing to his broadcast as soon as I’m able.”

Two weeks ago, “World News Tonight” slipped to third place behind Bob Schieffer at the “CBS Evening News” for the first time since 2001, although ABC recovered to beat the “CBS Evening News” by more than half a million viewers last week.

During the time they filled in for Jennings before his death last year, Gibson generally did better in the ratings than Vargas. But Westin said Tuesday’s move “was not a ratings issue at all.”

Vargas and singer Marc Cohn are due to have their second child in August. At age 44, Vargas said, it’s been a difficult pregnancy and her doctors have asked her to reduce her schedule. She concluded that what will work best for her in the fall is to return to “20/20,” the newsmagazine she co-anchors with John Stossel.

She said she didn’t feel any pressure to step down.

“I won’t lie to you, this was a difficult decision to make and I make it with a great deal of regret because I really enjoyed my time here,” she said. Vargas said she hopes to anchor again, but doing a job that required frequent travel to dangerous places wouldn’t be fair to a newborn and her other son, now 3.

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