The Anchor

With the ascendancy of Charles Gibson to the “World News Tonight” anchor seat this week, ABC News hopes to bring an end to a months-long streak of bad luck. Last August longtime host Peter Jennings retired after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The network passed over Gibson, a veteran journalist and cohost of “Good Morning America,” hiring instead two younger replacement anchors, Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas.

Three weeks into the new configuration Woodruff sustained serious head injuries in a roadside bombing in Iraq. With Vargas as the sole anchor, the program floundered. Two weeks ago it briefly dipped to third place behind NBC's “Nightly News” and the “CBS Evening News,” which has flourished under Bob Schieffer, who will hand the broadcast over to Katie Couric in the fall. (The ABC program has since edged out CBS to take the second slot.)

Gibson, 63, will begin his anchor duties next week. Vargas is due to give birth to her second child in August and says she has decided to return only to her anchor job at “20/20” after her maternity leave. Gibson, who in more than 30 years at ABC News has interviewed seven U.S. presidents, is widely viewed as a safe pick to lead a broadcast that brings in some 7.71 million viewers a night. He spoke with NEWSWEEK’s Brian Braiker about his new job. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: You’ll get to be in the anchor seat for the 2008 election. Are you happy about that?

Charles Gibson: Yeah, I am. It’s going to be a fascinating election. I can’t remember the last time there hasn’t been a natural candidate in either party.

Any plans for foreign news?