Slow, steady Gibson wins anchor race

Gibson, a Princeton grad, was raised to stand when his parents entered the room and to call his father "sir" and to always, always wear a tie to work.

Jennings, a regular bold-face presence on Page Six, favored polo shirts and khakis, slipping into his elegant suits in late afternoon. Gibson won't even loosen his tie - "I think it makes you look drunk," he says.

"Peter was the James Bond of TV news. Charlie is Ward Cleaver," says correspondent Tapper, 38, who grew up in Merion and graduated from Akiba Hebrew Academy.

"The fatherly appeal he has is totally legitimate. I understand why viewers have affection for him, because it's how we feel. He's a modest, genuinely sweet man."

NBC's Williams says he hates losing to Gibson, "but it's impossible to hate Charlie."

"He's a thoroughly decent guy and a terrific competitor who has a quality I admire - he's the first to give credit to the team around him. It's always been Charlie's reflex."

How's this for reflex? When Gibson ascended from morning anchor to the face of ABC News, he didn't get a raise in his contract, which runs until early 2009. He didn't request one and one wasn't offered, he says.

"The money thing is just irrelevant," he insists.

Maybe, but Gibson is lowest paid of the Big 3 anchors. Couric makes an estimated $15 million a year; Williams more than $10 million. Gibson's salary is estimated at $8 million.

His wife, Arlene, longtime headmistress at a tony private girls school in New York, is retired. She serves on the board of her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College.

Gibson is in no hurry to retire; neither does he want to stay too long at the party. His departure "will be organic, I think.

"When you don't expect this job, which I didn't, and you're of an age when you know you're not going to go off and do some other career, it takes a tremendous amount of pressure off you."

Charlie Gibson, anchor at last.

A Volatile Year

The network evening-news terrain has shifted considerably since Charlie Gibson assumed ABC's anchor chair 14 months ago. (Numbers are the average number of viewers each night.)

Network   2005-06   2006-07   Percent   

   season   season   change   

ABC    8.444 million   8.664 million   +2.6%   

   Charlie Gibson         

CBS   7.555   7.157   -5.3%   

SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research