Pelley moves into Couric's anchor seat June 6

Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley has been named the new anchor of the CBS Evening News, and he says he hopes to bring the "sensibility" of the top-rated newsmagazine to the perennially third-ranked broadcast.

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  2005 CBS photo via AP

  Scott Pelley says boosting third-ranked CBS Evening News is "absolutely achievable."

2005 CBS photo via AP

Scott Pelley says boosting third-ranked CBS Evening News is "absolutely achievable."

The naming of Pelley, 53, capping weeks of speculation, follows last week's confirmation that Katie Couric, who has been anchor since September 2006, is stepping down when her contract expires early next month. Pelley takes over June 6; Couric is expected to announce plans this month for a daytime talk show to begin in fall 2012.

Pelley is no stranger to CBS: He's a 22-year veteran of the network who rose from reporter to chief White House correspondent, covered wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he joined 60 Minutes in 2004, where he has covered the tsunami in Japan and this year's mass shooting in Tucson.

He says he'll continue to work on the newsmagazine, retaining his team of producers but lessening his workload with 13 to 15 segments, down from 20 this season. (Couric will have four.) How will he handle double duty? "That's what my wife asks," he says. "The answer is, 'We'll see.' "

He took pains to praise the current Evening Newsbroadcast, though he concedes he doesn't have time to watch.

"There's a lot about the Evening News that doesn't need fixing," Pelley says. One thing that does? "We need to get ourselves back to Afghanistan. We cannot take our eyes off these guys fighting."

Another is weak ratings. Despite the network's top-ranked prime-time performance, even Couric's star wattage couldn't move the Evening News needle. The CBS broadcast is averaging 6 million viewers this season, down 1% and lagging NBC Nightly News' 9.2 million and ABC World News' 8.1 million.

"We have come in to fix that," Pelley says. "Every single one of us wants to win. I think it's absolutely achievable. When? I can't tell you."

In a statement, his boss, CBS News chairman (and 60 Minutes producer) Jeff Fager, said Pelley "has the experience, the credibility, and he is among the very best reporters to ever work at CBS News."

And Couric applauded the choice.

"Scott is a great reporter and a real gentleman who cares deeply about the news," she said in a statement. "I know he'll put his own unique imprimatur on the broadcast and will do a great job carrying on the rich tradition of the CBS Evening News."

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