Norah O’Donnell will step away from the anchor chair at ‘CBS Evening News’ after the election

Norah O’Donnell is departing the anchor desk at “CBS Evening News” to take on a new role at the network.

O’Donnell, 50, told colleagues in a note Tuesday that she has a new “long-term commitment” with the network that will allow her to “do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark.”

“I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle,” she wrote in the memo obtained by The Times. “It’s time to do something different. 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,” she wrote.

O’Donnell will continue as a senior correspondent to appear across CBS News programs, including the evening newscast and the newsmagazine “60 Minutes.” She will remain at “CBS Evening News” through the presidential race, leading the network’s coverage on election night and at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

The network made no announcement about a replacement.

O’Donnell’s decision comes at a time of upheaval at CBS parent company Paramount Global. The company’s board and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone recently approved an $8-billion agreement to merge with Skydance Media, which is likely to lead to a period of uncertainty inside the news division that could face significant cost-cutting.

O’Donnell took over the anchor chair in 2019, following stints by Jeff Glor, Anthony Mason and current “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley. “CBS Evening News” debuted on the network in 1941 and became the platform for legendary anchors Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather.

O’Donnell’s broadcast typically finished third in the ratings behind “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir” and “NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt.” CBS has run behind its competitors in the evening news ratings race since losing key affiliate stations in the mid-1990s.

But in the era of diminished TV ratings, the 5 million viewers who typically watched O’Donnell’s broadcast made it one of the most watched programs of the week according to Nielsen data. The broadcast received a News & Documentary Emmy nomination this week.

The veteran Washington journalist recently made history as the first U.S. TV reporter to get a sit-down interview with a Roman Catholic pope. O’Donnell did a lengthy program with Pope Francis that aired across the network’s news programs and in an hourlong prime-time special.

People inside the network not authorized to comment publicly noted that the pope interview prompted O’Donnell to consider a move that would allow her to do more long-form interviews and programs. “It was a real lightbulb moment,” said one executive.

Before taking on her evening news role, O’Donnell was a White House correspondent for CBS News; she became co-anchor of “CBS This Morning” in 2012. She previously anchored for MSNBC and covered Washington for NBC News.