Harry Smith Leaving CBS News for NBC News

By Chris Ariens 

First on TVNewser: Harry Smith, who has been with CBS News for 25 years, is leaving the network, we’ve learned. In a note to the staff, obtained by TVNewser, CBS News president David Rhodes writes, “Harry Smith has been a fixture here at CBS News for a generation — he joined us in Dallas in 1986 — but today he’s decided to move on.”

Late last year, Smith was part of a shuffling of anchors at “The Early Show.” The team of Smith, Maggie Rodriguez and Dave Price was moved out, as Erica Hill, Chris Wragge, Marysol Castro and Jeff Glor took over.

We hear Smith is headed to NBC News where he’ll be a part of the new primetime news magazine show anchored by Brian Williams. That show is being headed up by another CBS News alum, Rome Hartman.

Advertisement

> Update: NBC News confirms with TVNewser that Smith is joining the network. They will announce the move on Monday.

Memo to staff from Rhodes, after the jump…

Harry Smith has been a fixture here at CBS News for a generation—he joined us in Dallas in 1986—but today he’s decided to move on.

Until late last year Harry anchored the Early Show, where for years he took us through breaking news events from the war in Iraq to the tsunami in Sri Lanka to Columbine and Oklahoma City.  Harry conducted news-making interviews with the biggest names in politics and entertainment.  During the course of his career here, Harry sat down with six presidents, from Barack Obama back to Richard Nixon. In my own recent time at CBS News I enjoyed working with Harry as he reported from Egypt, Libya, Malta, and Japan.  Frankly we may have enjoyed all those assignments more than he did—he’s seen a lot of airport departure lounges over his career and especially in the last four months. If you saw Harry’s piece closing the CBS Evening News the first Monday after the Japanese tsunami, you know what great work he is capable of. Jeff Fager and I want to thank Harry for his extraordinary contribution to CBS over 25 years.  If you see Harry around the newsroom in New York today, or otherwise are able to reach out, please join us in wishing him well.

David Rhodes
President, CBS News

Advertisement