Douglas Edwards attract a larger audience. Edward's last newscast on the evening news was on April 13, 1962. On April 16, 1962, Edwards was replaced by Walter Cronkite, and the program became Walter Cronkite with the News. On September 2, 1963, the program was retitled "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" and became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast of network television and was moved to 6:30 p.m. . For several years, both during his time as network anchor and after leaving the CBS anchor chair, Edwards anchored the local late news team on WCBS-TV, channel 2, the network's flagship television station
Walter Cronkite that time. On February 14, 1980, Cronkite announced that he intended to retire from the "CBS Evening News"; at the time, CBS had a policy of mandatory retirement by age 65. Although sometimes compared to a father figure or an uncle figure, in an interview about his retirement he described himself as being more like a "comfortable old shoe" to his audience. His last day in the anchor chair at the "CBS Evening News" was on March 6, 1981; he was succeeded the following Monday by Dan Rather. Cronkite's farewell statement: On the eve of Cronkite's retirement, he appeared on