Norah O’Donnell has revealed the date of her final CBS Evening News episode. The longtime CBS anchor will bid farewell to viewers on January 24, 2025.
The date was confirmed by CBS on Friday (November 22), as initially reported by Variety. O’Donnell will stay at the anchor desk and continue to helm the program through Donald Trump’s inauguration. Then, the transition will begin and she will step down from her position.
Instead of replacing O’Donnell with one anchor, CBS Evening News is opting for a full revamp, which will see John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois anchoring from New York and leading an ensemble that includes Washington D.C. correspondent Margaret Brennan and weather reporter Lonnie Quinn. This comes after the show was broadcast from D.C. for the last five years.
O’Donnell, who became the anchor of Evening News in July 2019 (she previously worked on the CBS Mornings desk), isn’t leaving the network completely. She will move to a new role as a senior correspondent, where she will contribute special reports. She will also contribute to 60 Minutes, Evening News, and other shows.
Her shock departure was initially announced in July, 2024. At the time, execs were planning to have the transition take place directly after the election, now deciding to wait slightly longer; four days after Trump’s inauguration.
According to Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, the hosting changeup will also come with a new look and format.
“We want to thank Norah for her exceptional work on the Evening News over the past five years, and we are grateful she has decided to continue leading our coverage through the election,” McMahon said in a statement.
She added, “Norah’s new role will give her the opportunity to contribute across CBS and Paramount, allowing us to see more of the groundbreaking stories and interviews that have been the hallmark of her career. Her superpower lies in her ability to secure and deliver big interviews and newsmaking stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist. We look forward to elevating and showcasing Norah’s reporting now and in the future.”
McMahon said that O’Donnell’s decision to expand her role led to the network “reimagining and redesigning” the Evening News.
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“The strength of CBS News has always been in its ensemble of journalists, both in front of and behind the camera,” McMahon stated. “Our goal with John, Maurice, Margaret, and Lonnie at the Evening News is to elevate the best in their fields every night for our viewers. In addition to this ensemble team, we look forward to welcoming 60 Minutes correspondents to file for the CBS Evening News when they have news to break; for decades this was routine, so it will be again.”
When O’Donnell announced her plans to leave, she said, “It’s time to do something different,” in a memo to staff. “This presidential election will be my seventh as a journalist, and for many of us in this business we tend to look at our careers in terms of these milestone events.”
O’Donnell became coanchor of CBS This Morning in 2012 before becoming the primary anchor of the series in 2019, replacing Jeff Glor. O’Donnell was just the third woman to anchor the show, after Connie Chung and Katie Couric. She got her start as a part-time anchor in 2011 before becoming co-anchor in 2012.
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