Abc 'world News' Bulletin: Jennings Anchored Till '05

With options limited for both of them, Peter Jennings and ABC finally agreed on a new three-year contract that keeps him at the "World News Tonight" anchor desk into 2005, sources familiar with the deal said.

"He has no place to go, there's no question about it," one veteran executive said. On the other hand, ABC was locked in as well. "There's a shortage of guys capable of taking over" at the anchor desk, the executive said.

Jennings, 64, had little to say on his status at a news conference called Monday to promote his forthcoming news documentary series, "In Search of America," which airs Sept. 3-7. The anchorman said he has never talked about his contract status in public.

Sources confirmed that Jennings had signed a three-year pact but declined to discuss his salary. Although various sources have tabbed his pay in published reports at about $10 million a year, others insisted that figure was mere speculation.

Speculation was the order of the day Monday, with one agent estimating that Jennings will be pulling in a salary in the $8.5 million-$10 million range, about what he is getting now. Published reports had suggested that ABC parent the Walt Disney Co. was asking Jennings to take a 25% pay cut, but that has never been confirmed. The agent said Jennings may have been able to escape a cut because of the lack of any obvious candidates to replace him.

"They probably decided, 'If we can renew him and extend him for two to three years, let's do it,' " the agent said, adding that network management has been remiss for failing to develop the next Jennings.

One news executive said that the networks — with the exception of NBC in the case of Brian Williams — have done a poor job of training the next generation of anchors, saying that "Good Morning America" co-host Charlie Gibson could step in for Jennings. But at 59, Gibson would be a "short-term solution" aimed at buying time.

NBC has the advantage of having two cable networks at which to train its next generation of anchors. One executive noted that it has the luxury of giving Tom Brokaw's heir apparent, Williams, two years in the field to hone his reporting chops before he replaces Brokaw at the "Nightly News" anchor desk in 2004.

But CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius strongly disagreed that her network has no ready replacement for Dan Rather, who last year signed a new contract but is expected to step down within a few years. "I think it's a cop-out. It's not a fair criticism anymore," Genelius said. "If you look at all three networks, you can find several people internally totally qualified to do that."

She pointed to John Roberts, who anchors the Sunday edition of "CBS Evening News," and "60 Minutes II" reporter Scott Pelley as examples of future stars, adding that the Sept. 11 coverage proved that that there is no sense of urgency to replace the iconic anchors. "On 9/11, where did most people turn?" she asked.

Jennings' newscast has stayed close to "Nightly News" in the ratings this year, even winning a few weeks in total viewers. But ABC's newscast has skewed much older than Brokaw's, consistently losing among the important 25-54 demo.