Chung to Pair With Rather at CBS News Anchor Desk

In an effort to differentiate the newscast and allow greater flexibility in sending its best-known reporter to cover important stories, CBS said Monday that Dan Rather will begin sharing his anchoring duties on the “CBS Evening News” with Connie Chung June 1.

It will mark the first face lift for one of the three major network newscasts in nearly a decade, and it will be the first time that a man and a woman have co-anchored one of the programs on a regular basis since ABC unsuccessfully paired Barbara Walters and Harry Reasoner in 1976.

CBS executives, along with Rather and Chung, downplayed the male-female aspects of the change, emphasizing instead the greater flexibility in reporting and anchoring that they believe the arrangement will offer.

But asked to comment on the once controversial Walters-Reasoner team, which ended in 1978, Rather said: “That was the 1970s; this is the 1990s. Connie is an experienced news correspondent and a big-time anchor talent. This feels right to me, and I believe it will work. I’m excited and happy about it.”

Rather, 61, who recently extended his CBS contract until the year 2000, told a press conference in New York on Monday that the idea of having a co-anchor was “a collective decision” that evolved during his recent discussions with management. He has been sole anchor of the newscast since replacing Walter Cronkite in March, 1981.

“Having decided to spend the rest of my career at CBS News, I thought that I would like to be able to get out from behind the anchor desk and report some of the important stories that are happening around the world today,” Rather said.

Chung, 46, said that she had been asked to be co-anchor only last Friday, although the idea of having a co-anchor has been periodically discussed at the top three broadcast networks.

“Those of us who have worked in the news business for 20 years always thought the time was right for a female anchor,” she said wryly.

Chung, a native of Washington, D.C., has considerable anchoring experience. She was a co-anchor at what is now KCBS-TV Channel 2 in Los Angeles from 1976 to 1983 and since has anchored weekend newscasts at both NBC and CBS. Her TV experience also includes work as a political correspondent and host of prime-time interview specials.

Chung had cut back on her duties at CBS in 1991 to concentrate on having a baby with her husband, talk-show host Maury Povich, without success. Despite returning to full-time duties, she indicated Monday that she has not given up hope of having a child.

Chung was making $1.8 million a year before cutting back her time in 1991. She reportedly made $1 million last year. Rather reportedly made $3.6 million in 1992.

Although “CBS Evening News” has run second in the ratings to ABC’s “World News Tonight” for the last three years, CBS News President Eric Ober denied that ratings were a factor in the decision.

“CBS, like the other networks, had taken its best reporter and chained him to an anchor desk,” he said. “This arrangement will give us much greater flexibility to redefine the anchor role and have the anchors report stories from around the world.”

It also offers what network executives call “cross-promotional” opportunities between the nightly newscasts and the two anchors’ prime-time newsmagazines, an increasingly important area of profitability for network news divisions. Rather hosts “48 Hours” and Chung will host “Eye to Eye,” which is expected to premiere in June.

CBS’ announcement came as a surprise to both its affiliated stations and industry observers. Although some CBS affiliates had called for a co-anchor several years ago, when the “CBS Evening News” had slipped into third place, there had been no such pressure recently.

“I think it’s a great idea that will give a new spark and a contemporary look to the ‘CBS Evening News,’ ” said R. E. Shafbuch, vice president of KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore., and a member of the executive committee of the CBS affiliates board. “I think Connie Chung will be able to attract some younger viewers and more female viewers to the ‘CBS Evening News.’ I can’t help but think it will be appealing to female viewers to have a female anchor upfront and center, side by side with a male anchor.”

At ABC, “World News Tonight” anchor Peter Jennings said he wasn’t certain what to make of the announcement.

“If it really is a decision for Dan to get out and do more reporting, good for him. If it’s being done for purely cosmetic reasons, that becomes more complicated,” he said in an interview.

Noting that “World News Tonight” had tried a multi-anchor format in the late 1970s, first with Walters and Reasoner and then with himself, Frank Reynolds and Max Robinson, Jennings said: “There are difficulties with such an arrangement. The newscast is only 22 minutes long, and it’s got to be divided up between the anchors.”

CBS News President Ober and “CBS Evening News” producer Erik Sorenson said that, on most evenings, both Chung and Rather will co-anchor the newscast in the studio in New York. At a time of a major breaking story, one of the anchors will report and anchor from the scene, while the other will read the rest of the day’s news from the studio.