Update: Comments from Peter Dunn

On January 3, veteran anchor Maurice DuBois made the move from mornings to evenings (with the departure of Chris Wragge for The Early Show).

But for WCBS, this was no rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

DuBois, the consummate pro, appeared to have instant chemistry with his new on-air partner Kristine Johnson.

And now the ratings bear that out.

In the just released February sweeps, FishbowlNY has learned that WCBS has won the 11 p.m. newscast, which DuBois and Johnson c0-anchor.

This marks the first time Channel 2 has won the weeknight late news sweeps race since 1994. That ratings book was influenced by CBS’ coverage of the Winter Olympics in prime time.

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Rob Morrison has been upgraded from weekend to weekday morning anchor at WCBS-TV.

FishbowlNY has obtained an internal memo sent by GM/President Peter Dunn to staffers this morning congratulating Morrison on his new appointment.

Morrison takes over for Maurice DuBois who assumes the station’s evening anchor duties.

“Thankfully, Rob has both the experience and familiarity with morning news viewers that make him a natural successor,” Dunn writes in the memo.

The memo, though, made no reference to Morrison’s morning co-anchor. Mary Calvi has been doing a more than capable job since Kate Sullivan left for Chicago earlier in the year.

Morrison will now be seen Monday through Friday from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. (along with additional updates during The Early Show), and on the noon newscast.

DuBois and Morrison start their new roles on January 3.

The changes began at WCBS after Chris Wragge was named weekday co-host of The Early Show.

Prior to joining WCBS, Morrison was the 10-year co-anchor of WNBC’s Today in New York.

No word on Morrison’s weekend replacement.

Since 1997, Maurice DuBois has become a familiar face for millions of viewers. The majority of those years were waking up New Yorkers, first at WNBC, then at WCBS.

Now, the affable DuBois is ready to put the alarm clock in a drawer and head for nights.

“I was pleased. …I don’t know if you ever expect anything,” DuBois tells FishbowlNY. “You just sort of react to events like this.”

Truth be told, this is DuBois’ second stint into the evening at WCBS. He was hired away from Channel 4 in 2004 for the noon and 6 p.m.

“I took that job with no guarantees…but sort of a feeling that CBS was going to be in a good place,” DuBois recalls.

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As we reported on Tuesday, WCBS top anchor Chris Wragge is heading to mornings as host of the network’s The Early Show.

Beginning on Monday, January 3, Wragge will lead the revamped Early Show that also features co-anchor Erica Hill, news reader Jeff Glor, and weather forecaster Marysol Castro. His final day at Channel 2 is December 10.

Wragge tells FishbowlNY that he was delighted to make the move, if not conflicted.

“It’s always tough when you’re in a situation that you really love, and you work with somebody that you’re over the moon for,” Wragge admits. “But this challenge is one that I’ve obviously wanted for a long time. …It was too good a deal to pass up.”

Two years after joining WCBS, Wragge transitioned from nightly sports anchor to lead news anchor in 2006. Since that time he has been paired with Kristine Johnson.

Wragge talks about the struggles with joining a last-place program after the jump.

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WCBS-TV didn’t waste any time naming Chris Wragge’s replacement behind the anchor desk.

Maurice DuBois, who has been with WCBS since 2004, will move from mornings to the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. DuBois, a Long Island native, will be joined by co-anchor Kristine Johnson.

“We are fortunate and proud to have a news team at CBS 2 New York with a deep roster of talented and experienced broadcasters,” Peter Dunn said, president of CBS Television Stations. “This allows people like Chris Wragge to accept exciting opportunities with our network news division and have pros like Maurice DuBois take on new responsibilities and help us continue to build on the success and momentum we have in place here at WCBS.”

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Peter Dunn, president and GM of WCBS-TV, now has the additional job of overseeing CBS’ 29 stations across the country.

In an email to staff, obtained by FishbowlNY, CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves writes, “Peter has been a terrific leader in every role he’s had at our station group, from President of Sales to running two of our biggest stations. He knows how to deliver results and inspire the best work from his people, and knows the local marketplace as well as anyone.”

Dunn replaces Tom Kane who had held the job since Sept. 2005. Kane was previously president and GM of WABC-TV.

Moonves’ email after the jump…

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