USA Today - USA - Ask ABC World News anchor Charles Gibson why he has become the nation's most-watched TV news anchor, and he grins.

"Unbridled sex appeal," he says.

Gibson is kidding, of course. But after the tumultuous year since the Tom Brokaw/Peter Jennings/Dan Rather era ended, his reason might be as good as any as to why the race among him, NBC's Brian Williams and CBS' Katie Couric has played out the way it has.

The contest began last Labor Day with Couric's much-heralded arrival at the CBS Evening News. The former Today star and the man who hired her — CBS CEO Leslie Moonves —