Charlie Gibson, anchorman at last

ABC finally made the announcement it should've made six months ago: Namely, that Charles Gibson will become the sole anchor of "ABC World News Tonight."

"I am humbled to accept this new assignment," Gibson was quoted as saying in one of those canned press-release comments that sets the world atwitter with its warmth, honesty and insight. "I have witnessed first hand the grace and determination of every member of the staff of World News Tonight. I look forward to joining this extraordinary team and to helping the broadcast start a new chapter.�

*Correction to previous post:* Gibson in fact won't continue with "GMA."

It's a little astonishing that it took this long for ABC to announce Gibson's promotion. "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff was rejected almost immediately by viewers -- the dueling-anchor conceit felt contrived and neither was known well enough to allow viewers the sort of comfort level that is so crucial in this kind of broadcast. And the entire enterprise just began to feel snakebit, with Woodruff's tragic injury in Iraq and Vargas' pregnancy leaving the broadcast in what seemed a permanent state of flux. With Bob Schieffer gaining viewers for "The CBS Evening News," which began breathing down ABC's back, and with Katie Couric promising to give CBS an at least temporary sizable bounce in September, ABC remains in grave danger of relinquishing its newscast's No. 2 ratings position.

Diane Sawyer mans the anchor's chair quite capably, but she just carries this inextricable tinge of glamour about her; watching her do hard news day in and day out might be a little like having, say, Julia Roberts narrate a documentary on Chechen terrorists murdering schoolchildren. (Oh, wait, that's actually happening later this week on Showtime.)

So giving Gibson the job was not only the inevitable thing to do but also the right thing. Like Schieffer, he's a reliable, versatile workhorse whom viewers trust. Odd how much that matters given that the job consists mainly of reading off a teleprompter and kicking to field reporters (the anchor is onscreen, what, maybe all of six minutes in a 22-minute newscast?), but no one's been able to fathom the psychology of viewers so far so don't expect any breaking insights anytime soon.