ABC's Charles Gibson & Diane Sawyer

The impact of a IED on a Iraqi roadside would reverberate around the world and through the years to change television news history.

Charlie Gibson planned on retiring from ABC News in 2007, after an amazing run on Good Morning America. He had been on assignment on some of the biggest stories of the late 20^th Century, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 attacks, and the Columbia space shuttle accident. Upon the death of Peter Jennings to lung cancer, ABC had planned a twin-anchor, male/female approach to World News featuring two of its fast rising stars: Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas.

But then in the early days of the matchup, Bob Woodruff went to the war zone in Iraq, and that bomb exploded.

The news division called on Charlie, to be a true anchor, providing stability to a shaken-up and hurting crew. Charlie Gibson was a household name, waking up millions with Joan Lunden and then Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. It was the Gibson/Lunden team who last beat NBC’s Today in the morning ratings race, back in 1995.

Now it’s Charlie who will get his chance to ratchet down his schedule while passing the baton to Diane Sawyer, who joins CBS’s Katie Couric as America’s second female top network anchor. Diane Sawyer originally came from CBS 20 years ago, where she was the first female correspondent for “60 Minutes.” Her original duties were to provide some contrast to the bombastic Sam Donaldson on “Primetime Live.” She has been co-anchor of “GMA” since 1999.

Media watchers will wag about how the big evening news anchors don’t mean much anymore; the ratings are sagging and there are so many more choices to get your news. My take is that there are still really few news organizations who can manage global and comprehensive coverage. The network evening anchor provides the face and the brand of the news division, and generally holds the title of Managing Editor, so they play a huge role in the success of the overall news effort, if they are leveraged well.

The Gibson to Sawyer transition will occur in January 2010.