Dan Rather to Sign Off ‘CBS Evening News’

NEW YORK – Dan Rather, whose network reporting career spanned from the Kennedy assassination to the deadly tsunami, prepared to sign off Wednesday after 24 years as “CBS Evening News” anchorman.

Rather was the public face of the legendary news division since replacing Walter Cronkite on March 9, 1981. His first newscast included a story about English girls imitating the hairstyle of Price Charles’ bride-to-be, Diana.

He’s the second of the three men who dominated network news for more than two decades to step down in four months. NBC’s Tom Brokaw exited in November, leaving ABC’s Peter Jennings remaining at “World News Tonight.”

Bob Schieffer is Rather’s temporary replacement starting Thursday. CBS expects to name a permanent anchor team to succeed Rather in the coming months.

Rather, 73, is returning to full-time reporting for CBS’ “60 Minutes” broadcasts.

His exit comes at a low ebb for his career. Rather took much of the public blame for a discredited “60 Minutes” story last fall about President Bush’s military service, and he’s a distant third in the ratings behind NBC’s Brian Williams and Jennings.

He was a target of conservative viewers who accuse the media of bias for more than three decades, since his coverage of the Nixon White House during the Watergate era, and many have exulted in his recent misfortunes.

But he had his supporters, too.

Marian MacNeil of Windsor, Calif., said she watched Rather regularly and admired him. “I feel terrible the way he’s being treated now,” MacNeil said. “I think they’re smearing a good reputation and overshadowing his 50 years. I hope he’s able to rise above this.”

Meanwhile, a CBS affiliate in northern Michigan that had said it would let its viewers decide whether it should run Wednesday’s prime-time CBS tribute to Rather backed off those plans. The station in Cadillac, Mich., said Wednesday its poll had been grossly misinterpreted.

“We were simply trying to maintain the great tradition of local viewer input that is the foundation of our modern day broadcasting system,” said William E. Kring, the station’s general manager. “It was never our intent to embarrass Mr. Rather or the CBS network.”

Both Jennings and Williams planned to pay tribute to Rather on their broadcasts.