Emotional CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell’s FINAL FAREWELL as she leaves role after five years

CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell bid farewell to her viewers for the last time as she stepped down from her role amid a wave of sweeping changes at the network.

The veteran broadcaster signed off on Thursday calling her position, ‘the honor of a lifetime’.

O’Donnell, 51, has held the role since 2019 but first joined the network back in 2012.

She is leaving the primetime slot to take on an expanded role after CBS parents company Paramount Global axed 2,000 jobs.

Oprah Winfrey was among those to lead tributes to the anchor, surprising her with a video montage looking back on her 1,300 broadcasts.

‘You have so much to be proud of,’ Winfrey said. ‘Your work as the anchor and managing editor of the ‘CBS Evening News’ has not only won awards, but more importantly, has made such a difference and informed our nation.’

The tribute featured clips from O’Donnell’s interview with Pope Francis, former President George Bush, Vice President Kamala Harris, Dolly Parton and other high profile guests.

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CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell bid farewell to her viewers for the last time as she stepped down from her role on Thursday

‘This has been the honor of a lifetime to anchor this legacy broadcast,’ O’Donnell said.

‘The ‘CBS Evening News’ — for good reason — is the longest-running evening newscast in America. And it is powered by the finest journalists in the world.’

‘The correspondents, producers, researchers and crews who work tirelessly to bring you the news every night. That won’t change because journalism matters. I know that because I’ve heard that from so many of you – our viewers.

‘So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for trusting us and welcoming hard news with heart into your homes.’

O’Donnell announced she was stepping back in July, months before Paramount Global announced the shake up geared at slashing $500 million in costs ahead of a scheduled merger with Skydance Media, the New York Post reports.

The changes come as the network has struggled with plummeting viewer numbers which have trailed behind rivals ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News.

CBS’ Evening News averaged 4.6 million viewers in the most recent quarter and particularly struggle din the crucial 25-54-year-old demographic, pulling in just 670,000 viewers.

O’Donnell will still work on long form broadcasts for CBS’ specials, ‘Sunday Morning’ and ’60 Minutes’.

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The broadcaster announced her departure months before CBS parents company Paramount Global axed 2,0000 jobs

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She was surprised on her last day with a video montage from Oprah Winfrey detailing some of the highlights of the last five years

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It featured highlights from her career, including this historic papal interview with Pope Francis last year

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O’Donnell joined CBS in 2012 and has been an anchor since 2019. She will remain with the network in an expanded role

O’Donnell is being replaced by CBS reporter John Dickerson (left) and CBS New York anchor Maurice Dubois (right)

‘I will miss you too,’ O’Donnell told viewers. ‘So for the final time, that’s tonight’s ‘CBS Evening News.’ I owe it all to everyone I work with. Seriously. Love you. Goodnight.’

She will be replaced by CBS reporter John Dickerson and CBS New York anchor Maurice Dubois who will co-host the slot.

‘I want to say thank you to the viewers,’ DuBois said on his show Thursday. ‘This is my hometown.

‘And without the viewers, there is no us so thank you for everything over the years we’ll keep going at a different time.’

It comes after the network was rocked by controversy over statements made by morning news anchor Tony Dokoupil during an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates about Israel.

He was rebuked at a meeting of CBS executives after he clashed on air with Coates after the author called Israel an ‘apartheid state’.

However, he faced no further repercussions and continues to co-anchor the morning show.