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CBS Evening News
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===Walter Cronkite (1962β1981)=== [[File:CBS News Anchor, Walter Cronkite, Interviews President John F. Kennedy.jpg|thumb|Cronkite interviews President [[John F. Kennedy]] to inaugurate the first half-hour nightly news broadcast in 1963]] On April 16, 1962, [[Walter Cronkite]] succeeded Edwards, and the broadcast was retitled ''Walter Cronkite with the News''. On September 2, 1963, the newscast, retitled ''CBS Evening News'', became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast on network television and was moved to 6:30 pm Eastern time (NBC's ''Huntley-Brinkley Report'' expanded to 30 minutes exactly one week later on September 9, 1963). As before, some affiliates (including flagship [[owned-and-operated station]] WCBS-TV in New York City) had the option of carrying a later edition, scheduled at 7:00 pm Eastern. NBC also allowed this practice for the ''Huntley-Brinkley Report'', with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] later following it for the ''[[ABC World News Tonight|ABC Evening News]]'' (now ''ABC World News Tonight''). The networks ended this practice after 1971, although some affiliates β mostly in larger markets β continued to carry the national newscasts at 7:00 pm Eastern on a half-hour tape delay. The ''CBS Evening News'' was first transmitted in color as a one-evening test broadcast on August 19, 1965,<ref>{{cite web|title=CBS at 75|url=http://www.cbs.com/specials/cbs_75/timeline/1960.shtml|publisher=CBS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216141637/http://www.cbs.com/specials/cbs_75/timeline/1960.shtml|archive-date=February 16, 2010}}</ref> before permanently switching to the format on January 31, 1966.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Television Listings|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842371,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623072331/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842371,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 23, 2008|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=January 28, 1966}}</ref> Cronkite's prime time special report, ''Who, What, When, Where, Why'', broadcast on February 27, 1968, ended with his declaration that the United States could only hope for a stalemate in [[Vietnam]]. It is often credited with influencing [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson]]'s decision to drop out of [[1968 United States presidential election|the race]] for [[President of the United States|President]]. "If I've lost Walter Cronkite... [I]'ve lost Middle America," he stated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Walter Cronkite β Filmmaker Interview: Catherine Tatge|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/walter-cronkite/filmmaker-interview-catherine-tatge/|work=[[American Masters]]|publisher=PBS|date=July 20, 2009|access-date=April 12, 2011}}</ref> Under Cronkite, the newscast began what eventually became an 18-year period of dominating the ratings among the network evening news programs.<ref name="museumcbs">{{cite web|title=Columbia Broadcasting System|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm|author=Albert Auster|publisher=[[Museum of Broadcast Communications]]|access-date=September 9, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820111743/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm|archive-date=August 20, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the process, Cronkite became "the most trusted man in America" according to a [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup Poll]], a status that had first been fostered in November 1963 through his coverage of the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of President John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Former CBS anchor 'Uncle Walter' Cronkite dead at 92|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/17/walter.cronkite.dead/index.html|work=CNN|date=July 18, 2009}}</ref> In late 1972, Cronkite prodded the show's producers to feature two nights of lengthy explanation on the [[Watergate scandal]], which had been extensively covered by ''[[The Washington Post]]'', but had not received major national coverage. After the first half of the report, shown on a Friday, ran for 14 minutes, roughly half of the air time of the broadcast, [[White House]] officials complained to CBS founder [[William S. Paley]]. The second half of the report was aired the following Monday, but only for eight minutes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ben Bradlee Remembers Walter Cronkite|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/207346|work=Newsweek|date=July 17, 2009}}</ref>
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