In viewership ratings, Edwards' newscasts were soon eclipsed by NBC News with its "Camel News Caravan" presented by John Cameron Swayze. CBS, though, quickly regained its lead due in no small part to Edwards' ongoing efforts to cover major events personally. Among the many news stories that Edwards covered in those years in the dual role of newscaster-reporter were his trip to the North Pole in 1949, the attempted assassination of Harry S. Truman in November 1950, and the coronation of Elizabeth II in June 1953. He also reported on cultural events such as the Miss America Pageant (five times). The nightly 15-minute "Douglas Edwards with the News" was watched by nearly 30 million viewers by the mid-1950s, as the newscaster continued his practice of periodically covering major new stories himself. In July 1956, while stationed on a helicopter hovering over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Massachusetts, Edwards reported the sinking of the "SS Andrea Doria", on-site coverage that received widespread public attention and critical praise. Despite such efforts and positive reactions to his stories, viewership of Edwards' televised newscasts began to decline by the late 1950s as NBC's new "Huntley-Brinkley Report"—CBS News' chief competitor—began to attract increasingly larger audiences.