The TV news game has gone through a great many changes in recent months, ranging from the ousting of Bill O'Reilly from Fox News to Megyn Kelly's decision to move to NBC News. Now, a big change is coming to CBS Evening News sooner rather than later. Host Scott Pelley is leaving after reportedly being forced out of the top position and will make the permanent move to 60 Minutes.
Ratings for Scott Pelley's tenure as host of CBS Evening News have been down recently, but that may not be the only reason why he is being shifted to 60 Minutes on a permanent basis. There has been "friction" between Pelley and CBS News president David Rhodes for some time, according to Page Six, which led to his boot from CBS' flagship news program. The folks at CBS put the plan into action while Pelley was actually out of the studio on an assignment for 60 Minutes, with sources indicating that his office was in the process of being cleared out.
Scott Pelley -- who is known in some circles as "Poison Pelley" for a dismissive comment to a reporter back in 2013 -- has had the top job at CBS Evening News since 2011, taking over from Katie Couric. CBS News has not yet announced who will take the top job as lead anchor, but CBS This Morning weekend anchor Anthony Mason is on board as interim anchor. It isn't yet clear how long the "interim" period will be. If Mason does well on CBS Evening News and ratings reflect positive audience reaction, he may well take over as permanent lead anchor.
The dismissal of Scott Pelley from CBS Evening News follows a report from late 2016 that he was not going to remain anchor for much longer. While CBS claimed that "there's no truth" to the rumor at the time, it seems that there may have been some accuracy in it. We may never know exactly what the circumstances were that led to Pelley's office being cleared out while he was away on assignment.
If not for the news that Scott Pelley will still have a job at CBS News with a place on 60 Minutes, I might have been a little offended on his behalf. I don't have a particular stake in who delivers the news, but it would have to be a big blow to Pelley if he was fired from CBS altogether while away from the studio. At least he won't be out of work.
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