Iconic TV news anchors through the years: See ABC, CNN, NBC and Fox's star journalists

One of today's most recognizable journalists, Anderson Cooper is the anchor of CNN’s "Anderson Cooper 360°." Before joining CNN, he was an ABC News correspondent and host of the network’s reality program "The Mole." Cooper also anchored ABC’s overnight newscast "World News Now."

Megyn Kelly was at Fox News for 12 years and now hosts "The Megyn Kelly Show", a talk show and podcast that airs daily on Sirius XM's Triumph channel. She previously hosted "America Live" and "The Kelly File" at Fox, and later anchored "Megyn Kelly Today" at NBC News from 2017 to 2018. She was ousted from the network after defending blackface Halloween costumes.

ABC television news anchor Peter Jennings, seen here with then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, was a Canadian American journalist who served as the anchor of "ABC World News Tonight" for 22 years from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005.

"Along with Tom Brokaw at NBC and Dan Rather at CBS, Jennings formed part of the 'Big Three' news anchors who dominated American evening network news from the early 1980s until his death in 2005," the Television Academy states.

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace (right), seen here moderating a debate between then-presidential candidated Joe Biden and Donald Trump at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted “Fox News Sunday” for 18 years before exiting for CNN in 2021.

He announced in 2024 that he would be leaving CNN and intended to take his talents to an independent streaming or podcasting platform.

Wallace is the son of the CBS News anchor Mike Wallace, the late "60 Minutes" correspondent and investigative journalist.

Lester Holt announced in 2024 that he would be stepping down as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" after a decade and was slated to move to a full-time role as anchor for NBC's "Dateline."

At"CBS Evening News,"Katie Couric became the first woman to solo anchor a network evening newscast. She served as anchor and managing editor from 2006 to 2011 following 15 years as co-anchor of NBC’s "Today Show," according to her biography. She also hosted a syndicated show and served as the Yahoo Global News Anchor until 2017.

After her late husband Jay Monahan's death from colon cancer at age 42 and Couric's own breast cancer diagnosis, Couric has become an outspoken voice for more screenings and early detection.

Ann Curry, who spent nearly 25 years at NBC News before founding her own media venture, spent some a brief amount of time at the "Today" show desk from 2011-2012. As a journalist, she is also renowned for her coverage of zones impacted by war and natural disasters.

Dan Rather (seen here with former "Today" anchor Jane Pauley) boasted a two-decade stint at the news desk for "CBS Evening News" starting in 1981, after making his name by reporting on John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Connie Chung's reporting ran the gamut across the big networks, from ABC to CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC. She's been a trailblazer in the field as both the first Asian woman and second ever female journalist to anchor a major network's weekday news weekday broadcast.

Alongside Dan Rather (of whom she had not-so-complimentary things to say in her 2024 memoir), she co-anchored "CBS Evening News" from 1993 to 1995.

After several years covering local news, Tom Brokaw rose up the ranks to eventually co-host the "Today" show with Jane Pauley (seen on the left) in 1976.

Upon his retirement in 2021, the network noted he was "the only anchor to have helmed all three NBC News flagship programs: 'Today,' 'NBC Nightly News' and 'Meet the Press.'"

A name synonymous with journalism, Walter Cronkite headed "CBS Evening News" to deliver major world news to American viewers for nearly two decades, from 1962 to 1981.

Gwen Ifill, best known for co-hosting "PBS NewsHour," was the first Black woman to host a nationwide televised public affairs show in the United States with PBS' "Washington Week in Review."

Ifill's career included stints at the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American before serving as chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, White House correspondent for The New York Times and a political reporter at The Washington Post.

Ifill died in 2016 at 61 years old following a cancer battle.