3 takeaways from Maurice DuBois' exit on 'CBS Evening News'

Veteran anchor and Port Jefferson's own, Maurice DuBois, will leave the "CBS Evening News" later this month — and before we all say, in world-weary unison, "here we go again, CBS" — let's sort out what happened, and why:
 

1. DuBois was fine, but ...

DuBois, 60, went into this job last in January well prepared — a nearly 40-year career that took him on stops through local TV (Chicago), then New York at WNBC/4 and (starting in 2004) at WCBS/2. He is, was and will continue to be a smoothly efficient and competent anchor. What he didn't have was a national profile (strike one). What he did have was a co-anchor (strike two). Finally, he joined a broadcast that was remaking itself on the fly, in the wake of the forced departure of Norah O'Donnell (strike 3), as CBS was looking to pare costs before the sale to Skydance (since consummated).

Let's sort through these three strikes in a little more detail. First, that national profile. Outside f New York, no one knew DuBois. At the very least, this required an aggressive national campaign by CBS for him to get acquainted, which never happened.

Second, co-anchors on national broadcast evening news programs do not work, or haven't for over a half-century. Such anchor twofers (and in one long ago instance, threefers) breed resentment between those two crowding the desk, and division-of-labor friction. Worse, viewers see no benefit because there is no benefit. CBS perhaps had some logic behind this latest dual-anchor attempt, but it was well hidden from the media, and even better disguised to viewers.

Of the two — John Dickerson is also leaving by year's end — DuBois is the more gifted natural anchor, while his co-anchor had a more analytic (read: egghead) mien. But how much time for analysis (which should ideally be left to the reporter/correspondent anyway) would someone like Dickerson get? During the course of a 22-minute broadcast — which had been reconfigured to offer more in-depth weather coverage — not much at all, as it turned out.

Finally, strike three: The Skydance merger. There was simply no way a new sheriff in town — in this instance Bari Weiss, installed as CBS News' editor-in-chief by the new Paramount boss, David Ellison — was going to be complacent with a third-place broadcast.

2. DuBois as CBS News' first Black weeknight anchor

Max Robinson was part of the tri-anchor format of ABC's "World News Tonight," which launched in 1978 and ended five years later, in 1983, when Frank Reynolds fell ill (the third anchor, Peter Jennings, went on to become the solo). And of course, Lester Holt was "Nightly News" solo anchor for a decade. He stepped down earlier this year. DuBois' historical significance at CBS was indisputable — and now reduced to an asterisk. He was indeed the first in the long, storied history of the "CBS Evening News." Ed Bradley, one of TV news's most gifted anchors, managed to only get as far as the weekend editions. Yet not even a year at the anchor desk, DuBois' impact was limited and will soon be forgotten. He opened a door, but we can all agree it takes more than "not even a year" to make a difference or impact. The door has been closed once again. When will it open next?

3. What is next?

Reports say "CBS This Morning" host Tony Dukoupil will be the next solo anchor. If true — and the rumors have certainly circulated for months — then what? Foremost, you'll have three nightly broadcasts that will appear superficially inseparable, anchored by three (superficially) indistinguishable anchors. That forces CBS management into the same puzzle box that it's been battling to get out of for four decades: What can we do to make this broadcast a unique part of the evening news landscape, and move into (at least) second place?

Such positioning is hardly about bragging rights. The top-rated evening news broadcast makes many millions more than the third-ranked one. To the victor go the spoils. But movement in this race isn't merely glacial, but virtually nonexistent. The last time "Nightly News" was solidly in first place was back in 2013-14. The last time for the once-predominant "Evening News?" A lifetime ago, in the early 1980s. The chilling concern now is that CBS — or Ellison — decide the effort is futile.

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