Happy 50th, 'CBS Evening News'

Significant improvements in technology and other resources throughout the 1950s enabled television news to develop a distinctive craft of its own, and by 1962 — when Walter Cronkite replaced Edwards in the CBS anchor chair — it had evolved into a strong, self-assured presence in the arena of American journalism.

Indeed, within a few years polls would disclose that most Americans had come to depend on television as their primary source of news, a startling triumph over print journalism that would have been inconceivable a decade earlier.

Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News for 19 years, during which time his calm voice of authority made him America's most respected television correspondent. Then in 1981, the torch was passed to Dan Rather, who has carried on the CBS tradition of news excellence to this day.

Remarkably, during its 50 years on the air, the CBS evening news show has had only three anchors, and each of them — Edwards, Cronkite and Rather — has left an enduring mark on the broadcast. So, too, have the scores of other journalists who have worked on the program over the years.

The show's golden anniversary is clearly an event worth celebrating.

	Golden Anniversary
	CBS TV News Debuts
	The Early Years

Written by Gary Paul Gates.
Associate Producers Adam S. Gaynor and Joshua Platt.
Video production by Jonathan Evans