Byron Pitts 2010 - P 2013
Getty ImagesByron Pitts is jumping from CBS News, where he has been a correspondent since 2001, to ABC News, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Pitts is expected to be named chief national correspondent at ABC News in the coming weeks. He’ll continue to be based in New York and will contribute across the network’s shows and platforms including Good Morning America, Nightline and particularly Friday newsmagazine 20/20, which recently saw the loss of co-anchor Chris Cuomo who departed for CNN.
Representatives for ABC News and CBS News declined comment. But sources say that Pitts has at least one piece in the works at CBS News that he expects to finish before he leaves.
STORY: Top New York Times Political Reporters Headed to ABC News
Pitts – who also contributed to 60 Minutes – is the latest in a string of television news personnel changes of late. New CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker has hired Cuomo and Jake Tapper from ABC News. Cuomo will host a new morning show on the network beginning in April, while Tapper’s 4 p.m. program bows on Monday.
And ABC News president Ben Sherwood earlier this week announced the addition of well-regarded New York Times political reporters Jeff Zeleny and Susan Saulny. Zeleny has been named senior Washington correspondent covering Congress and politics, while Saulny also has joined the ABC News Washington bureau as a correspondent. Meanwhile Rick Klein has been upped to political director at ABC News.
Pitts’ impending departure from CBS News was first reported by Politico.
