Bitter CBS End Is Rather Be

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Dan Rather's high-flying and sometimes controversial career at CBS News came to the end of the road on Tuesday with the announcement that he would retire from the network after 44 years.

Rather, 74, had been under contract through the end of November, but it was clear that a new deal with the network that would include a correspondent's job at "60 Minutes" wasn't in the cards.

It's unclear what Rather will do now, but he's sifting through offers for his post-CBS career, including an offer to host a weekly newscast at HDNet.

"I leave now most of all with the desire to once again do regular, meaningful reporting," Rather said in a statement released through his publicist Tuesday afternoon. "My departure before the term of my contract represents CBS' final acknowledgement, after a protracted struggle, that they had not lived up to their obligations to allow me to do substantive work there."

Rather, who declined interview requests Monday and Tuesday, had rejected CBS' offer of an office but without a steady assignment. "It just isn't in me to sit around doing nothing. So I will do the work I love elsewhere, and I look forward to sharing details about that soon."

Rather had hoped to finish out his career at CBS News but wasn't happy with the fact that he wasn't getting the "60 Minutes" airtime others had gotten. He'll apparently receive his salary through the remainder of his contract but didn't receive any more to leave earlier.

CBS News president Sean McManus said Tuesday that "we couldn't reach an agreement on a workload at '60 Minutes' that made sense for Dan and for CBS News." He declined comment further.

A source close to CBS management said that the decision was made because the end of the season for "60 Minutes" seemed like as good a time as any.