It’s official: Scott Pelley is the new anchor of The CBS Evening News. He joins an elite group that includes Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and Katie Couric. Will Pelley bring a significant change in ratings or attitude to the show? Can he beat Brian Williams or Diane Sawyer? And does it matter any more? I think ‘no’ is the answer to all those questions, but we’ll see. Maybe Pelley will surprise us. My choice would have been Harry Smith, but no one asked. It looks like Pelley will just pick up where Couric leaves off, on Monday June 6th. Is that enough time to build a whole new set and get new theme music? Resurrect Eric Sevareid to do the voice over introduction? Probably not. But Pelley’s assumption the anchor chair should make the old timers at CBS News happy: he’s one of them, and he’s a guy. These were the things they didn’t like about Katie Couric. So even if Pelley never raises the ratings, he’ll be a comfortable, supported fit in house. PS When bin Laden was killed on Sunday, Russ Mitchell did a great job anchoring the whole episode.
Friday, November 22, 2024
