Evening News is changing. Really.

This may come as a surprise, but ABC's Charles Gibson is retiring at the end of next week and Diane Sawyer will replace him as World News anchor. Really.

Given ABC's stealth transition for what has been traditionally the top job in network television news, it's understandable if many viewers don't realize its coming. Sawyer has given no interviews about her new job since the change was announced on Sept. 2, and none are planned. Neither has Gibson, although he may do some valedictory interviews before his last broadcast on Dec. 18. No advertisements are planned, outside of those on ABC.

The obvious contrast is late summer 2006, when CBS trumpeted the arrival of Katie Couric at the CBS Evening News. And the Couric hype is exactly what's kept Sawyer under the radar. ABC officials believe the attention paid to Couric's move from the Today show backfired, leaving CBS a distant last in the evening news ratings. Instead of a big splash, ABC hopes for a steady swim.

Three years ago, Couric's face was everywhere, plastered on the sides of city buses and on the cover of magazines including Good Housekeeping. She kept a grueling schedule of interviews with journalists and local anchors at 48 CBS affiliates.

It worked. People knew she was there. An estimated 13.6 million people watched the CBS Evening News on Couric's first night, more than double what she gets on a typical night now, according to the Nielsen Co.

The problem was that many viewers didn't like what they saw. Couric was trying to change the mold of the evening newscasts with interviews and lengthier features, and longtime TV news watchers expecting a fairly straight rundown of the day's events found it jarring.

Rather than trying to reconfigure the broadcast with a new producer, as Couric did, Sawyer will move neatly into the same newscast that Gibson is leaving. Her executive producer, Jon Banner, is Gibson's producer. He produced World News with Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff before Gibson, and the late Peter Jennings before them.

Any newscast is going to reflect the likes and dislikes of the main anchor, but making it Sawyer's broadcast will be a gradual process, said an ABC News executive familiar with the rollout.

Gibson, who has been with ABC News for 34 years, was named anchor of World News in 2006. Before being named anchor, Gibson was co-anchor of Good Morning America. He returned to GMA to re-launch the broadcast with Sawyer on Jan. 18, 1999. He previously co-anchored the morning program from 1987 to 1998.

Sawyer joined ABC News in February 1989, as co-anchor of Primetime. In addition to that assignment, she was named co-anchor of Good Morning America in January 1999. She currently co-anchors the morning news program with Robin Roberts, where the duo made network television history as the first female co-anchor team.

ABC News will also have more pressing publicity needs. Sawyer's exit from GMA means a new team must be put in place there. Morning shows have become more important financially for the networks than the evening news. George Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo are the leading candidates to fill Sawyer's shoes at GMA. If Stephanopoulos accepts ABC's offer to replace Sawyer, promotional muscle will be needed to make people aware of that change. ABC would also likely need a new host for the Sunday morning political show This Week.

Sawyer starts on World News on Dec. 21.

posted by The Mindless Man