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CBS veteran Harry Smith opts for possible greener pastures at NBC


Harry Smith as interim anchor of the CBS Evening News. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
CBS News just wasn't wild enough about Harry, who instead is taking his talents to rival NBC.

As reported by Reuters Friday, Harry Smith will be leaving after a quarter-century with CBS. He began his tenure in 1986 as a member of the network's Dallas bureau, and is married to former WFAA8 sports anchor/reporter Andrea Joyce.

Smith, 59, had been removed from CBS Early Show team after a lengthy tenure, and recently was interim anchor of the CBS Evening News after Katie Couric's departure. But CBS passed Smith over for the permanent job, instead installing former KXAS/WFAA reporter Scott Pelley as Couric's replacement.

NBC News reportedly will announce Monday that Smith is joining Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on a new prime-time news magazine show in development. Williams will continue to preside over Nightly News.

In a memo to staffers, CBS News president David Rhodes confirmed Smith's departure and praised him for an "extraordinary contribution" to the network. But he's "decided to move on," as Rhodes put it.