During the early part of his tenure anchoring the '' CBS Evening News '' , Cronkite competed against NBC 's anchor team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley , who anchored the '' Huntley-Brinkley Report '' . For much of the 1960s , the '' Huntley-Brinkley Report '' had more viewers than Cronkite 's broadcast . A key moment for Cronkite came during his coverage of John F. Kennedy 's assassination on November 22 , 1963 . Another factor in Cronkite and CBS ' ascendancy to the top of the ratings was that , as the decade progressed , RCA made a corporate decision not to fund NBC News at the levels that CBS provided for its news broadcasts . Consequently , CBS News acquired a reputation for greater accuracy and depth in coverage . This reputation meshed well with Cronkite 's wire service experience , and in 1967 the '' CBS Evening News '' began to surpass '' The Huntley-Brinkley Report '' in viewership during the summer months
John F. Kennedy 's assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Walter Cronkite