Television news in the United States a team of Tom Brokaw in New York and Roger Mudd in Washington. Brokaw became sole anchor in 1983. CBS launched "CBS Television News" in May 1948 to compete against the NBC newsreel programs, hosted on camera by Douglas Edwards, it was renamed "Douglas Edwards with the News" in 1950. In 1962, Walter Cronkite landed the anchor seat, which he would hold until 1981, and the program's name was changed to "CBS Evening News". On September 2, 1963, the show expanded from 15 to 30 minutes. In the 1970s, "CBS Evening News" was the dominant newscast on American television, and
Walter Cronkite correspondents, relieving Bill Downs as the head of the Moscow bureau. CBS offered Cronkite $125 ($2,189 in 2018 money) a week along with "commercial fees" amounting to $25 ($438 in 2018) for almost every time Cronkite reported on air. Up to that point, he had been making $57.50 ($1,006 in 2018) per week at UP, but he had reservations about broadcasting. He initially accepted the offer. When he informed his boss Harrison Salisbury, UP countered with a raise of $17.50 ($306 in 2018) per week; Hugh Baillie also offered him an extra $20 ($350 in 2018) per week to stay.