ABC News unveils new 3-anchor ‘Nightline’ format
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – ABC News said on Monday it will replace departing “Nightline” host Ted Koppel with a trio of anchors including a veteran White House reporter and a British journalist whose Michael Jackson documentary led to the pop star’s child molestation trial.
Terry Moran, ABC’s chief White House correspondent since 1999, will join “Primetime” co-host Cynthia McFadden and former BBC journalist Martin Bashir in the new “Nightline” format debuting on November 28, the network said.
In another change under incoming executive producer James Goldston, “Nightline” will cover three or four topics each night, rather than its traditional devotion to a single subject on most broadcasts.
The announcement followed months of speculation about the form and direction “Nightline” will take after Koppel leaves the show with his executive producer, Tom Bettag.
Koppel, 65, who has hosted “Nightline” since its official 1980 debut in the midst of the 444-day U.S.-Iranian hostage crisis, will anchor his last segment of the program on November 22 and leave ABC after 42 years with the network.
‘PRESENTATIONAL DIFFERENCES’
Goldston, who produced Britain’s most-watched public affairs show for two years, as well as Bashir’s “Living with Michael Jackson” documentary, denied suggestions that “Nightline” will go soft on news in favor of more pop-culture fluff.
“‘Nightline’ has a great and proud tradition of doing serious and important journalism,” he told Reuters. “There will be presentational differences, but there shouldn’t be very large content differences.”
“Nightline” spokeswoman Emily Lenzner said the “main set” for the show would shift to New York, where McFadden and Bashir are based. Moran will remain in Washington. Goldston said the anchors will serve as “co-equals” on the program.
Bashir, who joined ABC last year, first gained wide notice in the United States for the 2003 Jackson documentary in which the pop star acknowledged sharing his bedroom with visiting youngsters. That admission led to Jackson’s trial on charges of child molestation, but he ultimately was acquitted.
Moran anchors the Sunday night broadcast of “ABC World News Tonight” and has served as the network’s chief White House correspondent since 1999. McFadden was hired by ABC News in 1994 as a legal affairs correspondent and has co-anchored the “Primetime” news magazine since last year.
“Nightline,” which helped usher in the nation’s demand for round-the-clock news, evolved from a series of late-night news specials devoted to coverage of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979.
The specials, titled “The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage,” were first anchored by Frank Reynolds, then by Koppel, who stayed on to become host of “Nightline” when it debuted as a regular ABC program on March 24, 1980.
The changing of the guard at “Nightline” comes as the show is enjoying a ratings upswing, due in large part to its coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
More than three years ago, ABC sparked a furor when it was revealed that the network had quietly sought to recruit comedian David Letterman, star of the “CBS Late Show,” to host a new ABC talk show that would replace “Nightline.”
Categories