• NY Times, Tuesday, December 6, 2005 11:15 AM

What most other news outlets missed late yesterday in reporting the decision by ABC to install Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as co-anchors of "World News Tonight" is that the move came about only after the network's No. 1 news star, Charles Gibson, refused to sign. According to the The New York Times' Jacques Steinberg and Bill Carter, the energetic Gibson (he currently co-hosts "Good Morning America" while also anchoring ABC's nightly newscast) said he was interested in assuming the job left open following Peter Jennings' death if he could stay on until at least the 2008 presidential election. The network instead offered him a two-year pact, with the thought that he'd be supplanted by the younger Vargas-Woodruff team by the time 2008 rolled around. When Gibson balked, ABC chose to anoint Vargas-Woodruff as "World News Tonight"'s two anchors. It's a somewhat risky move, as co-anchors on network newscasts have not always proved to be popular with viewers. However, the decision keeps Gibson at "Good Morning America," which, in the overall scheme of things, is probably in the best financial interests of ABC; the morning shows deliver greater revenues to the networks these days than do the evening news programs.

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