Norah O’Donnell leaves CBS Evening News after 5 years in emotional sign: ‘Honor of a lifetime’

Norah O’Donnell bid farewell to her anchor chair on the CBS Evening News Thursday night, calling the gig an “honor of a lifetime” as the network prepares for a revamped broadcast.

“It’s been an incredible five and a half years,” O’Donnell said.

Oprah Winfrey surprised O’Donnell, 51, with a montage featuring interviews with Pope Francis and former Vice President Kamala Harris and on-location coverage in about 1,300 broadcasts.

“You have a lot to be proud of,” Winfrey said. “Your work as anchor and editor-in-chief of the CBS Evening News has not only won awards, but more importantly, made such a difference and informed our nation.â€

O’Donnell, who has served as the broadcast’s anchor since 2019, emphasized the importance of journalism as she delivered her final on-air signal.

“This has been the honor of a lifetime to anchor this legacy broadcast,” said O’Donnell.

The CBS Evening News is “for good reason” America’s longest-running evening newscast. And powered by the best journalists in the world.”

“The correspondents, producers, researchers and teams who work tirelessly to bring you the news every night. That won’t change because journalism matters. I know this because I have heard this from many of you – our viewers. So from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for trusting us and welcoming the difficult news with heart into your homes.â€

She was joined by Evening News staff who gave O’Donnell a standing ovation when the broadcast ended.

“I’ll miss you too,” O Donnell told viewers. “So, for the last time, this is the ‘CBS Evening News’ tonight.’ I owe it to everyone I work with. Seriously. i love you Good night.â€

In July, O’Donnell announced she would be stepping down from her role as anchor and managing editor after the 2024 presidential election to focus on an expanded role at the network amid struggling ratings.

The decision came months before parent company Paramount Global carried out sweeping layoffs of 2,000 employees to cut $500 million from the budget ahead of its planned merger with Skydance Media.

She will work on long-form reporting and interviews for CBS specials “Sunday Morning” and “60 Minutes,” CBS announced.

O’Donnell’s $8 million salary was cut by more than half to $3.8 million when she signed a deal with the network in 2022, The Post exclusively reported.

The “Evening News” averaged just 4.6 million total viewers in the most recent quarter and less than 670,000 in the key 25-54 demographic — trailing “ABC World News Tonight” and “NBC Nightly News.”

CBS reporter John Dickerson and longtime CBS New York anchor Maurice Dubois were named as O’Donnell’s successors.

The pair will serve as co-anchors and will air their first episode on January 27 from NYC, moving the studio from Washington, DC to the Big Apple.

“I want to say thank you to the viewers,” DuBois said Thursday. “This is my hometown. And without the viewers, there’s no us, so thanks for everything over the years, we’ll continue at another time.