Misplaced Pages

Nightline: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 11:51, 28 February 2010 editCobraBot (talk | contribs)17,825 editsm Superfluous disambiguation removed per WP:NAMB (assisted editing using CobraBot; User talk:Cybercobra)← Previous edit Latest revision as of 21:59, 24 December 2024 edit undo98.154.37.218 (talk) External links: already placed in subcatTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit 
(419 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|American late-night news program since 1980}}
{{Infobox Television
{{Other uses|Nightline (disambiguation)}}
| bgcolour = #0095B6
{{Infobox television
| show_name = Nightline
| image = ABC News Nightline 2018.png
| image = ]
| image_size = 275
| format = ]
| caption =
| runtime = 31 minutes
| alt_name = {{plainlist|
| creator = ]
* ''The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage'' (1979)
| starring = ] (2005-present)<br>] (2005-present)<br>] (2005-present)
* ''ABC News Nightline''
| country = ]
}}
| network = ]
| genre = ]
| slogan = "For a Brighter Take on the Day."
| creator = ]
| num_episodes =
| presenter = ] (2014–present)<br>] (2014–present)<br>(for past anchors, ])
| picture_format = ] (])<br>] (])<ref>http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6551270&articleid=CA6589802</ref>
| theme_music_composer = ] (1979–1997)<br>] (1997–2005)<br>VideoHelper (2005–2014)<br>Matthew Kajcienski and Adam Schoenberg (2018–present)
| first_aired = March 24, 1980
| opentheme =
| last_aired = present
| endtheme =
| website = http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/
| composer = Matthew Kajcienski and Adam Schoenberg<br>(2018–present)
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 38 <!-- March 24, 1980-March 23, 1981 as 1st season -->
| num_episodes =
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Eman Varoqua (2021–Present)<ref>{{cite news|title=Eman Varoqua Named Executive Producer, ABC News' 'Nightline'|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/eman-varoqua-nightline-executive-producer-abc-news-1235132485/|author=Brian Steinberg|work=]|date=September 24, 2014}}</ref><br/>
| producer =
| location = ABC News Washington Bureau, ] (1980–2007)<br>], ] (2005–2006, 2009–present)<br>ABC News Headquarters, New York City (2006–2009)
| camera = ]
| runtime = 20 minutes (1980–1981)<br>30 minutes (1981–1983, 2013–present)<br>60 minutes (1983)<br>31 minutes (1983–2011)<br>25 minutes (2011–2013)
| company = ]
| network = ]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1979|11|5}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1980|3|21}}
| first_aired2 = {{Start date|1980|3|24}}
| last_aired2 = present
| related = '']''
| director = Paul Verciglio<br>Ron Halper
}} }}
] in ].]]
'''''Nightline''''' (or '''''ABC News Nightline''''') is ]' ] news program broadcast on ] in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by ],<ref>{{cite news|title=Roone Arledge Auditorium And Cinema Dedicated April 25|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/00/04/arledge.html|author=Suzanne Trimel|publisher=]|date=April 26, 2000}}</ref> the program featured ] as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement in November 2005. Its ongoing rotating anchors are ] and ]. ''Nightline'' airs weeknights from 12:37 to 1:07&nbsp;a.m., ], after '']'', which had served as the program's lead-out from 2003 to 2012.


In 2002, ''Nightline'' was ranked 23rd on ].<ref>{{cite web|title=TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tv-guide-names-top-50-shows/|work=]|date=April 26, 2002}}</ref> The program has won four ], one in 2001,<ref>{{cite web|title=61st Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/nightline|work=]|date=May 2002}}</ref> two in 2002 for the reports "Heart of Darkness"<ref>{{cite web|title=62nd Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline: Heart of Darkness|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/nightline-heart-of-darkness|work=Peabody Award|date=May 2003}}</ref> and "The Survivors,"<ref>{{cite web|title=62nd Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline: The Survivors|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/nightline-the-survivors|work=Peabody Award|date=May 2003}}</ref> and one in 2022 for "The Appointment".<ref>{{cite web|title=82nd Annual Peabody Awards - Award Profile: The Appointment|url= https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/the-appointment|work=Peabody Awards|date=June 2022}}</ref>
'''''Nightline''''', or '''''ABC News Nightline''''' is a late-night news program broadcast by ] in the ], and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. ] served as main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement from the program in November 2005. The ] is ].


Through a video-sharing agreement with the ], ''Nightline'' repackages some of the BBC's output for an American audience. Segments from ''Nightline'' are shown in a condensed form on ABC's overnight news program '']''. There was also a version of ''Nightline'' for sister cable channel ].
==''The Iran Crisis—America Held Hostage'': 1979==
The program had its beginnings on November 8, ], just 4 days after the ] started. ] president ] felt the best way to compete against ]'s '']'' was to update Americans on the latest news from Iran. At that time, the show was called: "The Iran Crisis—America Held Hostage: Day ''xxx''" where ''xxx'' represented each day Iranians held hostage the occupants of the U.S. Embassy in ], ]. Originally, '']'' lead anchor ] hosted the special report. Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program. ], then ABC News's State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. It wasn't until a few days later that a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on "America Held Hostage": Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, and so on. The show's producer, ], died Tuesday, November 9, ], in ].


==''The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage'' (1979)==
==Ted Koppel's ''Nightline'': 1980&ndash;2005==
The program began on November 8, ], four days after the start of the ]. ABC News president ] figured that the best way to compete against ]'s '']'' was to update Americans on the latest news from ]. At that time, the show was called ''The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage: Day "xxx"'', where ''xxx'' represented the number of days that Iranians held the occupants of the ], Iran as hostages. At first, '']'' lead anchor ] hosted the 20-minute special reports.
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: ] on ''Nightline'' in 1995.]] -->


Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program. ], then ABC News's State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. A few days later a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on ''America Held Hostage'' (e.g., Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, etc.).
At the end of the hostage crisis in 1981 (after 444 days), ''Nightline'' had entrenched itself on the ABC programming schedule, and made Koppel a national figure. The program has prided itself on providing a mix of investigative journalism and extended interviews which would look out of place on '']''. Thanks to a video sharing agreement with the ], ''Nightline'' also repackages some of the BBC's output for an American audience. ''Nightline'' broadcasts also reappear in a condensed form on the overnight program '']''.


==Ted Koppel's ''Nightline'' (1980–2005)==
The program aired four nights a week until ], when the sketch comedy program '']'' was shifted to air after ''Nightline''.
By the end of the hostage crisis in 1981 (after 444 days), the program – which had been retitled the previous year as ''Nightline'' – had entrenched itself on ABC's programming schedule, and made Koppel a national figure. ABC had previously used the title "''Night Line''" for ] that was broadcast over the network's ] ], ], starting in 1963.


The program originally aired four nights a week (on Monday through Thursdays) until 1982, when the ] program '']'' was shifted to air after ''Nightline''. By this time, the news program had expanded to 30 minutes. For much of its history, the program prided itself on providing a mix of investigative journalism and extended interviews (something that continues to be featured to this day, albeit at a reduced extent), which would look out of place on ''World News Tonight''.
The format of the show was as follows: first there was the introduction by the host, then a taped piece on the specific topic of the night, then after a commercial break, there was a live interview related to the topic of the piece. In ], there was an unsuccessful attempt to change the format of the show to multi-topics and an hour as opposed to a single topic in a half hour. This switch proved to be unsuccessful, and after a few months, the old program was restored. The format was again changed after Ted Koppel's retirement.


]
The program remains unique in American media, considering its nightly broadcasts. Most other similar shows only air once a week, though usually in a ] slot for a full hour. ''Nightline'' is usually less ] than the weekly ]s (which often emphasize ] programming), though the program has caused controversy on occasion.
The format of the show featured an introduction by the host, then a taped piece on the specific topic of the night; then after a commercial break, there was a live interview related to the topic of the piece. In 1983, ABC attempted to change the program's format to feature multiple topics and expand it to one hour, as opposed to focusing on a single topic in a half-hour. This switch proved to be unsuccessful, and after a few months, the original format of the program was restored. Once the original format returned, reverting to a 31-minute structure, it remained unchanged through the end of Koppel's tenure; it was changed following his retirement.

The program remains unique in American media, considering its nightly broadcasts. Most other similar shows only air once a week, though usually in a ] slot for a full hour. ''Nightline'' is usually less ] than the weekly news magazines (which often emphasize ] programming, stories of such type – such as ]-related stories – ''Nightline'' has incorporated to a moderate degree following Koppel's departure), though the program has caused controversy on occasion.

In 1982, Koppel interviewed ] (PLO) chief ] on the program, in which he had indicated that he would not accept conditions from the U.S. to recognize the PLO.<ref>{{cite news|title=Arafat Says He Will Never Accept U.S. Conditions for Recognizing PLO|url=http://www.jta.org/1982/03/18/archive/arafat-says-he-will-never-accept-u-s-conditions-for-recognizing-plo|work=]|date=March 18, 1982|access-date=February 6, 2015}}</ref> In 1984, the program featured an interview with ] ] ], marking his first live television appearance. In honor of the 40th Anniversary of D-Day in 1984, ''Nightline'' aired a special edition which "covered" the ] as though modern television news, along with satellite reports, had existed at the time. The following year in 1985, the program conducted its first on-remote broadcast from ].

In 1986, the program featured interviews with the ]' first female ], ], and outgoing president ], the latter of which tried to defend the extravagant lifestyle (including the extensive shoe collection) of his wife ] during the country's economic hardship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Imelda Marcos' 3,000 Pairs of Shoes|url=https://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9044413|work=ABC News|date=February 5, 1986}}</ref> In an interview with ''Nightline'' in 1987, ] ] senator and 1988 presidential candidate ] admitted to having cheated on his wife, Lee Ludwig, with ], in the aftermath of an exposé in the '']'' that revealed the affair, leading to his withdrawal from the presidential election. That year, ''Nightline'' broadcast for the first time in the ]. In 1988, ''Nightline'' conducted a special report on-location from ].
{{external media| float = right| video1 = , ]}}
In 1996, ] published ''Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television'', about the program's history up to that point, with author credits attributed to Koppel and ''Nightline'' producer Kyle Gibson. The book received numerous lackluster reviews. In ] review of the book for the ''New York Times'', he observed "Ted Koppel announces in his introduction to ''Nightline'' that he did none of the interviews that went into the book and that although he 'influenced' and 'contributed' to it, 'in the final analysis Kyle wrote it.'"<ref name="NYT Goodman">{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Walter |author-link=Walter Goodman (critic) |title=BOOKS OF THE TIMES;Starry Eyes Look Back at Koppel and 'Nightline' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/08/books/books-of-the-times-starry-eyes-look-back-at-koppel-and-nightline.html |access-date=March 29, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=July 8, 1996}}</ref> ] in '']'' pointed in an unfavorable manner to the book's use of the ]: "Throughout ''Nightline'' the book, the star is referred to in the third person: 'Koppel said' this or that; 'Koppel hadn’t been asleep an hour when the phone rang.'."<ref name="EW Tucker">{{cite magazine |last1=Tucker |first1=Ken | author-link = Ken Tucker |title=Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television |url=https://ew.com/article/1996/06/14/nightline-history-making-and-making-television/ |access-date=March 29, 2020 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=June 14, 1996|quote= Throughout Nightline the book, the star is referred to in the third person: 'Koppel said' this or that; 'Koppel hadn't been asleep an hour when the phone rang.' Koppel notes in the introduction that 'I have contributed to this book, influenced it; but in the final analysis, Kyle wrote it,' so that probably explains it. Still, Ken Tucker thinks it comes off as silly and self-important of Koppel to have agreed to tell his story this way.}}</ref> Frederic M. Biddle of the '']'' wrote "This book reminds us not only that good television doesn't necessarily translate into scintillating prose, but that behind every successful journalist lurks a good editor – who in this case didn't show up."<ref name="Trib/Globe Biddle">{{cite news |last1=Biddle |first1=Frederic M. |title=IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT 'NIGHTLINE,' STICK TO THE TV |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-07-24-9607240283-story.html |access-date=March 29, 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=July 24, 1996}}</ref>


===Memorable subjects=== ===Memorable subjects===
During Ted Koppel's tenure as anchor (and on rare occasions since his departure), ''Nightline'' devoted each episode to a unique subject. Since its inception, the program has covered many subjects (], ], ], ], ], and ]). Many candidates for government offices, such as ] (in November 1991) have appeared on ''Nightline'' to try to promote themselves. Seeing that there are a large number of prisons in the United States, it created an ongoing series in 1994 called "Crime and Punishment". The program also aired a series of episodes called "America: In Black and White" dealing with individual aspects of American race relations, and another on homosexuality titled "A Matter of Choice?".
Perhaps the most infamous episode of ''Nightline'' occurred on April 15, ]. During the episode, longtime ] executive ] made ] comments. When Ted Koppel asked Campanis about why there were not that many ] field or general managers in ], Campanis responded by saying that blacks may lack the "necessities." What soon followed was what many observers believed was Campanis coming off worse and worse despite the numerous chances from Koppel to clarify himself. Shortly after the interview, the Dodgers fired Campanis.


Over the years, ''Nightline'' had a number of technological firsts. The program did the first live report from the base of ]. In November 1992, science reporter Michael Guillen did the first live broadcast from ]. There were times when a major breaking news story occurred as late as 11:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time, resulting in the subject of that night's edition being changed in order to cover the story in some form of detail, depending on the depth of information available at the time of broadcast. Examples of this were the deaths of ] (]) and ] (2004).
Nightline devoted each episode to a unique subject. Since its inception, they have covered all types of subjects (science, education, politics, economics, society, and breaking news). Many candidates for government offices, such as ] (November 1991) have appeared on Nightline to try to promote themselves. Seeing that there are so many prisons in the United States, they created an ongoing series in 1994 called "Crime and Punishment." Over the years Nightline had a number of technological firsts. They did the first live report from the base of ]. In November 1992, Science reporter Michael Guillen did the first ever live broadcast from ]. There were times where there was breaking news as late as 11:00 ET, and they had to change the subject of the show and cover the breaking news. Examples of this were the deaths of ] (1980) and ] (2004). Other important series were "America: In Black and White" and " A Matter of Choice." Nightline held a series of townhall meetings. Some of the more important ones include the Israeli-Palestinian Town Meeting in 1987 and the one discussing the War of Iraq in 2003. The interview was a major portion of the episode where important people were asked tough questions on the spot. Another series of townhall meetings featured public discussions and appearances by Japanese officials on the poor performance of American business during the 1980s, contrasted with the success of Japanese businesses. These townhall meetings coincided with the ] during the early 1990s (i.e. ] by ], ] and ] by ], ], the ], ], et al.)


''Nightline'' also held a series of ]s; these included the Israeli-Palestinian Town Meeting in 1987, one with ] on June 21, 1990, and one discussing the ] in 2003. The first such "Town Meeting", in 1987, was an extended edition (running for four hours and 12 minutes, until 3:47&nbsp;a.m. Eastern Time, on the night of its broadcast) discussing the ] epidemic of that period in the U.S. A major portion of the episode was devoted to interviews where important people were asked tough questions on the spot. Another series of town hall meetings featured public discussions and appearances by Japanese officials on the poor performance of American business during the 1980s, contrasted with the success of Japanese businesses. These town hall meetings coincided with the ] during the early 1990s (such as ] by ], and ] and ] by ]).
===Highlights===

*2008 ] admits on ''Nightline'' to cheating on his wife with a campaign staffer.
What had been intended to be a benign episode dedicated to the 40th anniversary of ] breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier ended up being remembered for one of the show's controversial moments. The April 6, ] broadcast included longtime ] executive ], who had been with the franchise since before Robinson's debut. When Ted Koppel asked Campanis about why there were so few ] ] or ] in the sport, Campanis responded awkwardly, saying that blacks may lack the "necessities" to succeed in those positions. Despite Koppel offering Campanis numerous chances to clarify or retract his remark (asking Campanis several times "Do you really believe that?"), Campanis' subsequent responses only worsened his position. Koppel ultimately scolded Campanis on-air for proposing the "same kind of garbage" that Robinson's critics and skeptics had peddled in 1947. Shortly after the interview, the ] fired Campanis.
*2005 Ted Koppel's last show as host of ''Nightline''.

*1988 ''Nightline'' goes on location to Jerusalem.
Later in 1987, the program broadcast an exclusive interview with televangelists ] and ], following the former's sex scandal that brought down their PTL ministry. On December 3, 1990, ''Nightline'' played ]'s controversial ] "]" in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. The video contained imagery of ], ] and ]. When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on ], she shrugged and answered, "Yeah, so? Lucky me." She also mentioned that the banning was hypocritical, as male artists were able to show music videos on the channel which contained sexist and violent imagery. She also mentioned that in her "]" music video she had worn a see-through lace top which exposed her breasts, but this was passed by the channel.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Nightline|episode-link=Nightline (US news program)|credits=Interviewer: ]|network=]|airdate=December 3, 1990}} {{youTube|Xgfw0l-Rn5A}}. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite magazine|title=Madonna Banned|url=https://ew.com/article/1998/11/20/justify-my-love-was-too-raunchy-1990/|author=Joshua Rich|magazine=]|publisher=EW.com|date=November 20, 1998|access-date=August 31, 2010|archive-date=May 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521191755/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,285759,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*1987 ''Nightline'' is seen in U.S.S.R. for first time.

*1987 ] admits on ''Nightline'' to cheating on his wife.
In 1997, ''Nightline'' aired "ABC Exclusive" footage of the trial of former ]n dictator ], in ] between ABC News and ] ] to use the footage of Pot's trial.<ref>{{cite news|title=Your scoop? Nah. It's ours if we want it.|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/your-scoop-nah-its-ours-if-we-want-it-1157187.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/your-scoop-nah-its-ours-if-we-want-it-1157187.html |archive-date=2022-06-21 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|author=Paul McCann|work=]|date=May 25, 1998}}</ref> Thayer later sued Koppel and ABC News for $30 million in ] and unspecified ].
*1987 ''Nightline'' presents its first "Town Meeting" the subject is AIDS and the show runs until 3:47 AM
*1987 ] and ] appear on ''Nightline'' after PTL scandal.
*1987 ], ] executive for more than forty years, resigns after making racially insensitive remarks on ''Nightline''.
*1986 ] and ] appear on ''Nightline''.
*1985 First remote location for ''Nightline'' (]).
*1984 First live TV appearance by ] ] ].
*1983 ''Nightline'' expands from a half-hour to a full-hour program.
*1982 PLO chief ] appears on ''Nightline''.
*1981 ''Nightline'' extends from four nights to five nights a week (Friday).
*1981 ''Nightline with Ted Koppel'' premieres on ABC.
*1981 ''Nightline with Ted Koppel'' extended from twenty minutes to thirty minutes.
*1980 ABC's nightly Iran Hostage crisis program renamed ''Nightline''.
*1979 ABC broadcasts "Iran Crisis: American Held Hostage" with ] (forerunner to ''Nightline'').


===Reading of the names===<!-- This section is linked from ] --> ===Reading of the names===<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
]
On April 30, ], Koppel read the names of the members of the ] who were killed in ]. This prompted controversy from ] who believed Koppel was making a political statement and from ], which felt that ABC was undermining the war effort in Iraq. Others, most notably the '']'' television columnist, thought it was a ] stunt for ], and indeed ''Nightline'' was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other ''Nightline'' programs that week. Sinclair stations did not air the program.
On April 30, ], Koppel read the names of members of the ] who were killed in the ] since it began in March 2003. This prompted controversy from ] who believed that Koppel was making a political statement and from management at ], ]-based television station owner ], which felt that ABC was undermining the war effort in Iraq; in protest, Sinclair forced its ABC-] stations not to air that night's edition.<ref name=seattletimes-sinclair>{{cite web|title=Sinclair known for conservative political tilt|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020756844_fishersinclairxml.html|publisher=]|access-date=April 12, 2013}}</ref><ref name="ap-nightline">{{cite web|title=Names of U.S. war dead read on 'Nightline'|url=http://www.today.com/id/4864247/ns/today-entertainment/#.UWeoKNzrz-U|work=NBCNews.com|date=29 April 2004 |publisher=Associated Press|access-date=April 12, 2013}}</ref> Others, most notably the television columnist for '']'', thought it was a ] stunt for ]; indeed ''Nightline'' was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other editions of the program which aired that week. ABC responded to the controversy, saying that the program was meant to be "an expression of respect which seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."<ref name="ap-nightline"/>


Koppel repeated the format on May 28, ], reading the names of service members killed in Afghanistan, and on May 30, ], reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, Sinclair stations aired the program as scheduled. Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004, reading the names of service members killed in ], and on May 30, 2005, reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, all of Sinclair's ABC stations aired the program as scheduled.


===Ratings and threats of cancellation=== ===Ratings and threats of cancellation===
Rumors have spread for many years about the show's cancellation. However, during the so-called "late show wars" of ], when '']'' and '']'' were battling it out for viewers, ''Nightline'' would often place second and occasionally be in first place. {{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} For many years, rumors had been spread about the show's possible cancellation. However, during the so-called "late night wars" of 1993, when the '']'' began competing with '']'', some in the industry believed that ''Nightline'' would wind up in first place. On occasion, when a significant news story occurred, ''Nightline'' would top its entertainment rivals in the ratings.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}


In ], ABC attempted to hire ] from ], a move that would likely have forced ''Nightline'''s cancellation. However, Letterman opted to re-sign with ] (When ABC added '']'' in ], it was placed at the 12:06 timeslot instead of the 11:35 slot of ''Nightline'', again preventing cancellation). In 2002, ABC attempted to hire ] away from ], a move that would likely have forced the network to cancel ''Nightline''. However, Letterman opted to sign a renewed contract with CBS to remain host of the ''Late Show''. An unverified story suggested that Letterman would have made the move had a Letterman talk show on ABC started at 12:05&nbsp;a.m. Eastern Time in order to preserve ''Nightline''. When ABC debuted '']'' as a ] competitor to ''Tonight'' and the ''Late Show'' in January 2003, it was placed at the 12:06&nbsp;a.m. Eastern timeslot instead of the 11:35&nbsp;p.m. slot occupied at the time by ''Nightline'', again preventing its cancellation.


===Koppel's final broadcast and "Closing Thought"===
Koppel anchored his final ''Nightline'' broadcast on November 22, 2005, despite his contract ending in December. He announced in March 2005 he was leaving the show at the end of his contract.
In March 2005, Ted Koppel announced that he would be leaving the show at the end of his contract. On November 22, 2005, Koppel retired from ''Nightline'' after 25 years as anchor of the program, and left ABC News after 42 years with the network, although it was an early departure from both as his contract was not set to expire until December.


Koppel's final broadcast of ''Nightline'' did not feature clips, memorable interviews or famous moments from his tenure as host, as would be typical when an anchor retires. Instead, it featured Koppel's 1995 interview with college professor ], who was suffering with ]. For this broadcast, Koppel interviewed sports journalist ], who had been a student of Schwartz. Albom talked about how the ''Nightline'' interviews led and inspired him into contacting Schwartz personally, and then visiting him weekly. These visits became the basis of the book '']'', chronicling lessons about life learned from Schwartz. The interview was significant because Morrie was actually interviewed 3 times including the 1995 interview which took place a couple weeks before Morrie's death.<ref>''Tuesdays with Morrie'' includes three chapters called Audiovisuals which chronicle Ted Koppel's visits with Morrie.</ref>
Ratings have been up since the new format has begun, even beating the '']'' for three consecutive weeks in August 2006 and again in 2008. {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}


Every so often, Koppel ended the program with a "Closing Thought", in which Koppel usually expressed his opinion on the subject of the night's broadcast. On his final night, urging viewers to continue watching the program, Koppel concluded his final ''Nightline'' broadcast with the following "Closing Thought":<ref>ABC News, "Nightline", November 22, 2005</ref>
===Koppel's final "Closing Thought"===
{{blockquote|There's this quiz I give to some of our young interns when they first arrive at ''Nightline''. I didn't do it with the last batch; it's a little too close to home. "How many of you", I'll ask, "can tell me anything about ]?" Blank stares. "How about ] or ]?" Not a twitch of recognition. "]? ]?" Still nothing. "]" sometimes causes a hand or two to be raised, and ] may be glad to learn that a lot of young people still have a vague recollection that he once worked in television news.<br>
On November 22, 2005, Ted Koppel retired from ''Nightline'' after 25 years on the show, and left ABC News after 42 years. Koppel's final broadcast of ''Nightline'' did not feature clips, or highlighting moments, as typical when an anchor retires. Instead it featured Koppel's 1995 interview with college professor ], who was suffering with ].
What none of these young men and women in their late teens and early twenties appreciates, until I point it out to them, is that they have just heard the names of seven anchormen or commentators who were once so famous that everyone in the country knew their names. Everybody.<br> Trust me, the transition from one anchor to another is not that big a deal. Cronkite begat ], Chancellor begat ], Reynolds begat ]. And each of them did a pretty fair job in his own right. You've always been very nice to me, so give this new anchor team for ''Nightline'' a fair break. If you don't, I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot. And then you'll be sorry. That's our report for tonight, I'm Ted Koppel in Washington, from all of us here at ABC News, good night.}}


==Post-Koppel ''Nightline'' (2005–present)==
Every so often, Koppel ended the program with a "Closing Thought". This segment is usually when he expressed his opinion on the subject of the nights show. On his final night, the following was his "Closing Thought".
British journalist and producer ] was appointed as the programme's executive producer in 2005.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=June 2007|first=Joel Topcik 16|title='Nightline' in the Goldston Era|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/nightline-goldston-era-83007|access-date=2020-06-13|website=Broadcasting Cable|date=16 June 2007|language=en}}</ref> He opted to scrap the format of the existing broadcast, and on November 28, 2005, replaced Koppel with a three-anchor team of ] (Goldston's compatriot and colleague on ITV's '']'') and ] at ] in ] and ] in ]<ref name=":0" />


Along with the new anchors, ''Nightline'' began airing live each night (outside of pre-taped story packages) and switched to a multi-topic format (similar to the format attempted during the short-lived 1983 expansion to an hour-long broadcast, although condensed to fit a half-hour timeslot) – that covers multiple stories in each broadcast. The conversion to a multi-topic format has received some criticism due to the fact that it is more difficult to focus on a story subject in depth when there is much less time devoted to it, and that more stories seen on the program seem to focus more on ], rather than news events.<ref>{{cite web|title=ABC News unveils new 3-anchor 'Nightline' format|url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/274738/abc_news_unveils_new_3anchor_nightline_format/|author=Steve Gorman|work=RedOrbit.com|date=October 17, 2005|access-date=September 16, 2009}}</ref> However, ratings increased after the new format was implemented, even beating the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' for three consecutive weeks in August 2006 and again in 2008.
{{cquote|There's this quiz I give to some of our young interns when they first arrive at ''Nightline''. I didn't do it with the last batch; it's a little too close to home. "How many of you", I'll ask, "can tell me anything about ]?" Blank stares. "How about ] or ]?" Not a twitch of recognition. "]? ]?" Still nothing. "]" sometimes causes a hand or two to be raised, and ] may be glad to learn that a lot of young people still have a vague recollection that he once worked in television news.
What none of these young men and women in their late teens and early twenties appreciates, until I point it out to them, is that they have just heard the names of seven anchormen or commentators who were once so famous that everyone in the country knew their names. Everybody.
Trust me, the transition from one anchor to another is not that big a deal. Cronkite begat ], Chancellor begat ], Reynolds begat ]. And each of them did a pretty fair job in his own right. You've always been very nice to me, so give this new anchor team for ''Nightline'' a fair break. If you don't, I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot. Then you'll be sorry. And that's our report for tonight, I'm Ted Koppel in Washington and from all of us here at ABC News, good night. }}


On July 11, 2006, in his first appearance on the program since leaving ''Nightline'' in November 2005, Ted Koppel made a surprise appearance on that night's broadcast to discuss the prisoner situation at the ] with co-anchor Terry Moran, and to discuss his then upcoming series for the ].
==Post-Koppel ''Nightline'': 2005&ndash;present==
<!-- Deleted image removed: ], ], and ] in ].]] -->
On November 28, ], Koppel was succeeded by a three-anchor team: ] and ] at ] in ] and ] in ]; the three anchor format being based on the BBC's '']'', which also has more than two anchors presenting the show. Along with the new anchors, ''Nightline'' is now live every night and has a multi-topic format—that covers multiple stories in each broadcast. There are many critics of the multi-topic format due to the fact that it is more difficult to focus on a subject in depth when there is much less time devoted to the subject, and that more stories seem to be focusing on popular culture, rather than news events.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/274738/abc_news_unveils_new_3anchor_nightline_format/ |accessdate=September 16, 2009 |title=ABC News unveils new 3-anchor 'Nightline' format |author=Steve Gorman |date=17 October 2005}}</ref>


On August 7, 2006, ABC shut down full-time ''Nightline'' production from Times Square and moved the program to the ABC News Headquarters in ], citing high production costs and logistical problems, though some special editions still do originate from Times Square Studios. In 2009, ''Nightline'' announced that an online program was in development that would be hosted by the show's anchors through ], encouraging viewer discussion on the website.<ref name="TheLiveFeed">{{cite web|title='Nightline' developing Twitter show|url=http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/nightline-developing-twitter-show.html|work=]|publisher=The Live Feed|date=May 12, 2009}}</ref>
On July 11, ], Ted Koppel made a surprise appearance on ''Nightline'' to discuss with co-anchor Terry Moran the prisoner situation at ] and to discuss his upcoming series for ]. It was his first appearance on the broadcast since leaving the show in November 2005.


In a 2008 interview with correspondent ] featured on the program, former ] and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate ] admitted to ], ], with a campaign staffer (later identified as ]) who worked on his ], which he would drop out of.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/edwards-nightline-interview-a-ratings-117282|title=Edwards 'Nightline' interview a ratings bust|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-02-06|language=en}}</ref> In the 2009-2010 television season, the series narrowly beat '']'' as the highest-rated late-night program in the U.S. in terms of total viewers, assisted by the ] and notable interviews with ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/abcs-nightline-is-1-in-late-night-for-2009-2010/30291|title='Nightline' is #1 in Late Night for 2009-2010|website=TVNewser|date=23 September 2010 |access-date=February 6, 2018}}</ref>
As of August 7, 2006 ABC had ceased ''Nightline'''s New York operations from ] and moved to ABC News Headquarters in ], citing high production costs and logistical problems. Even though ''Nightline'' moved to ABC Headquarters in Lincoln Square, several shows have been taped at ABC's Times Square location, mainly with Martin Bashir's coverage.


===2010s===
Nightline is developing an online program hosted by the show's anchors through Twitter, encouraging viewer discussion on the website.<ref name="The Live Feed">{{cite web |url= http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/nightline-developing-twitter-show.html|title = ‘Nightline’ developing Twitter show| publisher = The Live Feed
In August 2010, ] left ''Nightline'' to serve as a correspondent with ] and host a ] on ]; he was subsequently replaced by ].
|date=May 12, 2009}}</ref>


On January 20, 2011, ABC News president ] announced that ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' (for which ''Nightline'' had been serving as its lead-in since that program premiered in January 2003) would have its start time moved five minutes earlier to 12:00&nbsp;a.m. Eastern Time, reducing ''Nightline''{{'}}s running time from 31 to 25 minutes. It was also announced that ABC would produce up to 13 hours of prime-time news content under the ''Nightline'' brand. For the 2011–2012 television season, ''Nightline'' again placed as the most-watched late-night television program among the major networks.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
In November 2009, ABC News Nightline achieved the number-one spot in the Nielsen ratings for a late night broadcasts, the first time averaging 4.15 million viewers. It beat The Tonight Show and The Late Show in total viewers.

In 2011 Goldston departed as executive producer to move to ''Good Morning America.<ref name=":0" />''

On August 21, 2012, ABC announced that the program would switch timeslots with ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' beginning January 8, 2013: ''Nightline'' was moved one hour later to 12:35&nbsp;a.m. Eastern Time, while ''Kimmel'' moved to the program's former 11:35&nbsp;p.m. timeslot, in order to compete with fellow late night talk shows ''The Tonight Show'' and the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. Upon the move, ''Nightline'' was also expanded to 30 minutes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jimmy Kimmel to go head-to-head vs. David Letterman, Jay Leno|url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/14636245-421/jimmy-kimmel-to-go-head-to-head-vs-letterman-leno.html|author=Gary Levin|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=It's Jimmy Kimmel vs. Leno and Letterman in January; ABC moves 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' to 11:35, 'Nightline' to 12:35|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/its-jimmy-kimmel-vs-leno-and-letterman-in-january-abc-moves-jimmy-kimmel-live-to-1135-nightline-to-1235/2012/08/21/31d89db6-ebb4-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_blog.html|author=Emily Yah|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jimmy Kimmel takes 'Nightline' slot next year|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/showbiz/jimmy-kimmel-moved/index.html|author=Alan Duke|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jimmy Kimmel faces Leno and Letterman head-on in January|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/story/2012-08-21/jimmy-kimmel-nightline/57189730/1|author=Gary Levin|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref>

As part of this move, ABC also announced that it would launch a ] news magazine extension of ''Nightline'', which was originally scheduled to premiere on March 1, 2013;<ref>{{cite news|title=ABC Sees a Contender in Jimmy Kimmel|url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/jimmy-kimmel-to-move-to-1130-in-january-abc-announces/|author=Bill Carter|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ABC moves Jimmy Kimmel to 11:35 p.m., adds 'Nightline' Friday run|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-abc-moves-jimmy-kimmel-to-1135-pm-packs-nightline-to-friday-20120821,0,1113628.story|author=Scott Collins|newspaper=]|date=August 21, 2012}}</ref> the premiere of this program – later retitled ''The Lookout'', which focuses mainly on consumer reports and is produced by the ''Nightline'' staff – was subsequently pushed back to May 29, 2013, airing in a Wednesday 10:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern timeslot.<ref name=hp-thelookout>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/abc-news-nightline-lookout-primetime_n_3327623.html|title=ABC News' 'Nightline' Primetime Will Be Re-Branded 'The Lookout'|work=The Huffington Post|date=May 23, 2013|access-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref> Another prime time version of ''Nightline'', ''Nightline Prime'', premiered on March 15, 2014, in a Saturday 9:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern timeslot; this series featured reporters using small cameras to cover stories from within.<ref name=v-nightlineprime>{{cite news|title=ABC's 'Nightline' Gets Primetime Run Starting This Weekend|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/abcs-nightline-gets-primetime-run-starting-this-weekend-1201132015/|author=Rick Kissell|newspaper=]|date=March 13, 2014|access-date=March 16, 2014}}</ref>

In October 2013, '']'' weekend co-anchor ] was named as a co-anchor of ''Nightline'', replacing ] (who had recently left ABC News to become a correspondent for ]).<ref name="HarrisNightline">{{cite news|title=Dan Harris Named Co-Anchor of "Nightline"|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/dan-harris-named-co-anchor-of-nightline/|work=]|date=October 11, 2013}}</ref> In August 2014, Cynthia McFadden left ''Nightline'' and ABC News to become a correspondent for ], and was replaced as co-anchor by existing ABC News correspondent (and frequent contributor to the program) ].<ref name="ChangNightline">{{cite news|title=Cynthia McFadden Jumps From ABC to NBC News, Juju Chang to Replace Her on 'Nightline'|url=http://www.thewrap.com/cynthia-mcfadden-jumps-nbc-news-juju-chang-replace-nightline/|author=Tim Kenneally|work=]|date=March 27, 2014}}</ref> On December 18, 2014, it was announced that ] would step down as an anchor of the program after that night's broadcast (although he would remain with ABC News as a correspondent and legal analyst), and would be replaced by ] effective the following day (December 19).

=== 2020s ===
From March 16, 2020, ''Nightline'' presented extended coverage of the initial impact of the ]; co-anchor Pitts explained that the show was "leaning more heavily into roots", and was consistent with the show itself having been "born in response to a crisis, giving facts, context and, when possible, comfort as our nation dealt with the Iran hostages". It was also announced that the program would temporarily return to its former 11:35&nbsp;p.m. time slot from March 17 to April 10, replacing J''immy Kimmel Live!'' (which went on hiatus with reruns until March 30, when the program returned with original episodes produced from ] home).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/nightline-coroniavirus-abc-news-byron-pitts-steven-baker-1203535698/|title=Coronavirus Prods ABC's 'Nightline' to Return to Roots|last=Steinberg|first=Brian|date=2020-03-16|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2020-03-20}}</ref> ''Nightline'' was the highest-rated late-night program that week in total and key demographic viewership.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/03/jimmy-kimmel-live-time-slot-remain-1205-am-first-week-back-on-television-nightline-coronavirus-covid-19-1202894653/|title='Jimmy Kimmel Live!' To Remain At 12:05 AM In First Week Back On Television Amid COVID-9 Pandemic|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=2020-03-27|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref>

On March 24, 2020, ''Nightline'' marked its 40th anniversary; Ted Koppel made a guest appearance, where he discussed his wife's vulnerability to ] due to ] (COPD), and opined that "it's time more than ever in this country to come to the realization that what we need more than anything else, is reliable, credible journalists."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/03/coronavirus-ted-koppel-nightline-abc-1202892043/|title=Ted Koppel, In a Return To 'Nightline', Warns Of Misinformation During Coronavirus Crisis|last=Johnson|first=Ted|date=2020-03-25|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>

In 2022, ABC News launched a sister newsmagazine, ''IMPACT x Nightline'', that streams on ].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/abcs-nightline-branded-streaming-newsmagazine-returns-for-season-2-on-hulu/ | title=ABC's Nightline-Branded Streaming Newsmagazine Returns for Season 2 on Hulu | date=18 September 2023 }}</ref>

==On-air staff==

===Current on-air staff===

====Anchors====
* ] (2014–present)
* ] (2014–present)
Note: The anchors alternate hosting duties, without both anchors appearing on every night.

===Former on-air staff===

====Anchors====
* ] (1980–2005)
* ] (2002–2005)
* ] (2005–2010)
* ] (2005–2013)
* ] (2005–2014)
* ] (2010–2013)
* ] (2013–2014)
* ] (2013–2019)


==International broadcasts== ==International broadcasts==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
*In Australia, ''Nightline'' airs at 1:30AM (AET) on ].
! Country !! Network(s) !! Weekly schedule (local time)
*]
|-
| {{AUS}} || ]|| 8:10&nbsp;a.m. (])
|-
| {{JAP}} || ] BS1 || 4:30&nbsp;p.m. (])
|-
| {{CAN}} || ABC <br> ] || Available through ABC stations; Airs at 12:00&nbsp;a.m. on CHCH
|-
|}

==''Nightline on Fusion''==
On February 12, 2015, it was announced that ABC and ] would launch a new version of ''Nightline'' on ] called '''''Nightline on Fusion'''''. It was hosted by ] and Kimberly Brooks and aired on Tuesdays at 9 pm eastern with repeats at other times. The show was similar to the ABC version and shares resources and correspondents. However, the Fusion version put more emphasis on stories from the flagship program which resonate with Fusion's younger, more culturally diverse target audience. It also featured original content produced for Fusion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wearefusion.tumblr.com/post/110830360914/fusion-to-debut-weekly-one-hour-edition-of|title=Fusion to Debut Weekly One-Hour Edition of "Nightline" Hosted by ABC's Gio Benitez and Fusion's Kimberly Brooks|website=FUSION|date=February 2015|access-date=May 6, 2017}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
] * ]
* '']'', an Australian program similar to ''Nightline''


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}}
<references/>


==External links== ==External links==
* *
* Nightline Story on and Hormel Trademark Battle
*
* {{IMDb title |id=0154053 |title=Nightline}}
*
*Nightline Story on & Hormel Trademark Battle
*{{imdb title |id=0154053 |title=Nightline}}
*{{Tv.com show |id=13427 |title=Nightline}}
*{{YouTube|show=nightline |''Nightline''}}


{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Nightline''
|list =
{{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information}}
{{TCA Heritage Award}}
}}
{{ABC News Personalities}} {{ABC News Personalities}}
{{ABCNetwork Shows (current and upcoming)}}
{{US Newsmagazine}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightline (Us News Program)}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 21:59, 24 December 2024

American late-night news program since 1980 For other uses, see Nightline (disambiguation).
Nightline
Also known as
  • The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage (1979)
  • ABC News Nightline
GenreNews program
Created byRoone Arledge
Directed byPaul Verciglio
Ron Halper
Presented byByron Pitts (2014–present)
Juju Chang (2014–present)
(for past anchors, see section)
Theme music composerScore Productions (1979–1997)
Edd Kalehoff (1997–2005)
VideoHelper (2005–2014)
Matthew Kajcienski and Adam Schoenberg (2018–present)
ComposersMatthew Kajcienski and Adam Schoenberg
(2018–present)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons38
Production
Executive producersEman Varoqua (2021–Present)
Production locationsABC News Washington Bureau, Washington, D.C. (1980–2007)
Times Square Studios, New York City (2005–2006, 2009–present)
ABC News Headquarters, New York City (2006–2009)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time20 minutes (1980–1981)
30 minutes (1981–1983, 2013–present)
60 minutes (1983)
31 minutes (1983–2011)
25 minutes (2011–2013)
Production companyABC News Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseNovember 5, 1979 (1979-11-05) –
March 21, 1980 (1980-03-21)
ReleaseMarch 24, 1980 (1980-03-24) –
present
Related
20/20
Nightline is broadcast from the Times Square Studios in Midtown Manhattan.

Nightline (or ABC News Nightline) is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement in November 2005. Its ongoing rotating anchors are Byron Pitts and Juju Chang. Nightline airs weeknights from 12:37 to 1:07 a.m., Eastern Time, after Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which had served as the program's lead-out from 2003 to 2012.

In 2002, Nightline was ranked 23rd on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. The program has won four Peabody Awards, one in 2001, two in 2002 for the reports "Heart of Darkness" and "The Survivors," and one in 2022 for "The Appointment".

Through a video-sharing agreement with the BBC, Nightline repackages some of the BBC's output for an American audience. Segments from Nightline are shown in a condensed form on ABC's overnight news program World News Now. There was also a version of Nightline for sister cable channel Fusion.

The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage (1979)

The program began on November 8, 1979, four days after the start of the Iran hostage crisis. ABC News president Roone Arledge figured that the best way to compete against NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was to update Americans on the latest news from Iran. At that time, the show was called The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage: Day "xxx", where xxx represented the number of days that Iranians held the occupants of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran as hostages. At first, World News Tonight lead anchor Frank Reynolds hosted the 20-minute special reports.

Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program. Ted Koppel, then ABC News's State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. A few days later a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on America Held Hostage (e.g., Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, etc.).

Ted Koppel's Nightline (1980–2005)

By the end of the hostage crisis in 1981 (after 444 days), the program – which had been retitled the previous year as Nightline – had entrenched itself on ABC's programming schedule, and made Koppel a national figure. ABC had previously used the title "Night Line" for a short-lived 1 a.m. talk show starring Les Crane that was broadcast over the network's New York City flagship station, WABC-TV, starting in 1963.

The program originally aired four nights a week (on Monday through Thursdays) until 1982, when the sketch comedy program Fridays was shifted to air after Nightline. By this time, the news program had expanded to 30 minutes. For much of its history, the program prided itself on providing a mix of investigative journalism and extended interviews (something that continues to be featured to this day, albeit at a reduced extent), which would look out of place on World News Tonight.

Ted Koppel in 1982

The format of the show featured an introduction by the host, then a taped piece on the specific topic of the night; then after a commercial break, there was a live interview related to the topic of the piece. In 1983, ABC attempted to change the program's format to feature multiple topics and expand it to one hour, as opposed to focusing on a single topic in a half-hour. This switch proved to be unsuccessful, and after a few months, the original format of the program was restored. Once the original format returned, reverting to a 31-minute structure, it remained unchanged through the end of Koppel's tenure; it was changed following his retirement.

The program remains unique in American media, considering its nightly broadcasts. Most other similar shows only air once a week, though usually in a prime time slot for a full hour. Nightline is usually less sensationalistic than the weekly news magazines (which often emphasize soft news programming, stories of such type – such as pop culture-related stories – Nightline has incorporated to a moderate degree following Koppel's departure), though the program has caused controversy on occasion.

In 1982, Koppel interviewed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief Yasser Arafat on the program, in which he had indicated that he would not accept conditions from the U.S. to recognize the PLO. In 1984, the program featured an interview with Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, marking his first live television appearance. In honor of the 40th Anniversary of D-Day in 1984, Nightline aired a special edition which "covered" the landings on Normandy as though modern television news, along with satellite reports, had existed at the time. The following year in 1985, the program conducted its first on-remote broadcast from South Africa.

In 1986, the program featured interviews with the Philippines' first female president, Corazon Aquino, and outgoing president Ferdinand Marcos, the latter of which tried to defend the extravagant lifestyle (including the extensive shoe collection) of his wife Imelda during the country's economic hardship. In an interview with Nightline in 1987, Colorado Democratic senator and 1988 presidential candidate Gary Hart admitted to having cheated on his wife, Lee Ludwig, with Donna Rice, in the aftermath of an exposé in the Miami Herald that revealed the affair, leading to his withdrawal from the presidential election. That year, Nightline broadcast for the first time in the Soviet Union. In 1988, Nightline conducted a special report on-location from Jerusalem.

External videos
video icon Koppel interviewed by Jeff Greenfield on Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television, May 30, 1996, C-SPAN

In 1996, Times Books published Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television, about the program's history up to that point, with author credits attributed to Koppel and Nightline producer Kyle Gibson. The book received numerous lackluster reviews. In Walter Goodman's review of the book for the New York Times, he observed "Ted Koppel announces in his introduction to Nightline that he did none of the interviews that went into the book and that although he 'influenced' and 'contributed' to it, 'in the final analysis Kyle wrote it.'" Ken Tucker in Entertainment Weekly pointed in an unfavorable manner to the book's use of the third person: "Throughout Nightline the book, the star is referred to in the third person: 'Koppel said' this or that; 'Koppel hadn’t been asleep an hour when the phone rang.'." Frederic M. Biddle of the Boston Globe wrote "This book reminds us not only that good television doesn't necessarily translate into scintillating prose, but that behind every successful journalist lurks a good editor – who in this case didn't show up."

Memorable subjects

During Ted Koppel's tenure as anchor (and on rare occasions since his departure), Nightline devoted each episode to a unique subject. Since its inception, the program has covered many subjects (science, education, politics, economics, society, and breaking news). Many candidates for government offices, such as David Duke (in November 1991) have appeared on Nightline to try to promote themselves. Seeing that there are a large number of prisons in the United States, it created an ongoing series in 1994 called "Crime and Punishment". The program also aired a series of episodes called "America: In Black and White" dealing with individual aspects of American race relations, and another on homosexuality titled "A Matter of Choice?".

Over the years, Nightline had a number of technological firsts. The program did the first live report from the base of Mount Everest. In November 1992, science reporter Michael Guillen did the first live broadcast from Antarctica. There were times when a major breaking news story occurred as late as 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, resulting in the subject of that night's edition being changed in order to cover the story in some form of detail, depending on the depth of information available at the time of broadcast. Examples of this were the deaths of John Lennon (1980) and Yasser Arafat (2004).

Nightline also held a series of town hall meetings; these included the Israeli-Palestinian Town Meeting in 1987, one with Nelson Mandela on June 21, 1990, and one discussing the War in Iraq in 2003. The first such "Town Meeting", in 1987, was an extended edition (running for four hours and 12 minutes, until 3:47 a.m. Eastern Time, on the night of its broadcast) discussing the AIDS epidemic of that period in the U.S. A major portion of the episode was devoted to interviews where important people were asked tough questions on the spot. Another series of town hall meetings featured public discussions and appearances by Japanese officials on the poor performance of American business during the 1980s, contrasted with the success of Japanese businesses. These town hall meetings coincided with the corporate takeovers of U.S. companies by Japanese corporations during the early 1990s (such as MCA by Matsushita, and CBS Records and Columbia Pictures by Sony Corporation).

What had been intended to be a benign episode dedicated to the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier ended up being remembered for one of the show's controversial moments. The April 6, 1987 broadcast included longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis, who had been with the franchise since before Robinson's debut. When Ted Koppel asked Campanis about why there were so few black field managers or general managers in the sport, Campanis responded awkwardly, saying that blacks may lack the "necessities" to succeed in those positions. Despite Koppel offering Campanis numerous chances to clarify or retract his remark (asking Campanis several times "Do you really believe that?"), Campanis' subsequent responses only worsened his position. Koppel ultimately scolded Campanis on-air for proposing the "same kind of garbage" that Robinson's critics and skeptics had peddled in 1947. Shortly after the interview, the Dodgers fired Campanis.

Later in 1987, the program broadcast an exclusive interview with televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, following the former's sex scandal that brought down their PTL ministry. On December 3, 1990, Nightline played Madonna's controversial music video "Justify My Love" in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. The video contained imagery of sadomasochism, voyeurism and bisexuality. When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on MTV, she shrugged and answered, "Yeah, so? Lucky me." She also mentioned that the banning was hypocritical, as male artists were able to show music videos on the channel which contained sexist and violent imagery. She also mentioned that in her "Vogue" music video she had worn a see-through lace top which exposed her breasts, but this was passed by the channel.

In 1997, Nightline aired "ABC Exclusive" footage of the trial of former Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, in violation of a verbal agreement between ABC News and freelance journalist Nate Thayer to use the footage of Pot's trial. Thayer later sued Koppel and ABC News for $30 million in punitive damages and unspecified compensatory damages.

Reading of the names

Former logo, used from January 1998 to December 2017. This variant (which was displayed upright until November 2002) is based on the program's original 1980–97 logo.

On April 30, 2004, Koppel read the names of members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in the Iraq War since it began in March 2003. This prompted controversy from conservatives who believed that Koppel was making a political statement and from management at Hunt Valley, Maryland-based television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, which felt that ABC was undermining the war effort in Iraq; in protest, Sinclair forced its ABC-affiliated stations not to air that night's edition. Others, most notably the television columnist for The Washington Post, thought it was a ratings stunt for sweeps; indeed Nightline was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other editions of the program which aired that week. ABC responded to the controversy, saying that the program was meant to be "an expression of respect which seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."

Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004, reading the names of service members killed in the war in Afghanistan, and on May 30, 2005, reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, all of Sinclair's ABC stations aired the program as scheduled.

Ratings and threats of cancellation

For many years, rumors had been spread about the show's possible cancellation. However, during the so-called "late night wars" of 1993, when the Late Show with David Letterman began competing with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, some in the industry believed that Nightline would wind up in first place. On occasion, when a significant news story occurred, Nightline would top its entertainment rivals in the ratings.

In 2002, ABC attempted to hire David Letterman away from CBS, a move that would likely have forced the network to cancel Nightline. However, Letterman opted to sign a renewed contract with CBS to remain host of the Late Show. An unverified story suggested that Letterman would have made the move had a Letterman talk show on ABC started at 12:05 a.m. Eastern Time in order to preserve Nightline. When ABC debuted Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a late-night talk competitor to Tonight and the Late Show in January 2003, it was placed at the 12:06 a.m. Eastern timeslot instead of the 11:35 p.m. slot occupied at the time by Nightline, again preventing its cancellation.

Koppel's final broadcast and "Closing Thought"

In March 2005, Ted Koppel announced that he would be leaving the show at the end of his contract. On November 22, 2005, Koppel retired from Nightline after 25 years as anchor of the program, and left ABC News after 42 years with the network, although it was an early departure from both as his contract was not set to expire until December.

Koppel's final broadcast of Nightline did not feature clips, memorable interviews or famous moments from his tenure as host, as would be typical when an anchor retires. Instead, it featured Koppel's 1995 interview with college professor Morrie Schwartz, who was suffering with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. For this broadcast, Koppel interviewed sports journalist Mitch Albom, who had been a student of Schwartz. Albom talked about how the Nightline interviews led and inspired him into contacting Schwartz personally, and then visiting him weekly. These visits became the basis of the book Tuesdays with Morrie, chronicling lessons about life learned from Schwartz. The interview was significant because Morrie was actually interviewed 3 times including the 1995 interview which took place a couple weeks before Morrie's death.

Every so often, Koppel ended the program with a "Closing Thought", in which Koppel usually expressed his opinion on the subject of the night's broadcast. On his final night, urging viewers to continue watching the program, Koppel concluded his final Nightline broadcast with the following "Closing Thought":

There's this quiz I give to some of our young interns when they first arrive at Nightline. I didn't do it with the last batch; it's a little too close to home. "How many of you", I'll ask, "can tell me anything about Eric Sevareid?" Blank stares. "How about Howard K. Smith or Frank Reynolds?" Not a twitch of recognition. "Chet Huntley? John Chancellor?" Still nothing. "David Brinkley" sometimes causes a hand or two to be raised, and Walter Cronkite may be glad to learn that a lot of young people still have a vague recollection that he once worked in television news.
What none of these young men and women in their late teens and early twenties appreciates, until I point it out to them, is that they have just heard the names of seven anchormen or commentators who were once so famous that everyone in the country knew their names. Everybody.
Trust me, the transition from one anchor to another is not that big a deal. Cronkite begat Rather, Chancellor begat Brokaw, Reynolds begat Jennings. And each of them did a pretty fair job in his own right. You've always been very nice to me, so give this new anchor team for Nightline a fair break. If you don't, I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot. And then you'll be sorry. That's our report for tonight, I'm Ted Koppel in Washington, from all of us here at ABC News, good night.

Post-Koppel Nightline (2005–present)

British journalist and producer James Goldston was appointed as the programme's executive producer in 2005. He opted to scrap the format of the existing broadcast, and on November 28, 2005, replaced Koppel with a three-anchor team of Martin Bashir (Goldston's compatriot and colleague on ITV's Living with Michael Jackson) and Cynthia McFadden at Times Square Studios in New York City and Terry Moran in Washington, D.C.

Along with the new anchors, Nightline began airing live each night (outside of pre-taped story packages) and switched to a multi-topic format (similar to the format attempted during the short-lived 1983 expansion to an hour-long broadcast, although condensed to fit a half-hour timeslot) – that covers multiple stories in each broadcast. The conversion to a multi-topic format has received some criticism due to the fact that it is more difficult to focus on a story subject in depth when there is much less time devoted to it, and that more stories seen on the program seem to focus more on popular culture, rather than news events. However, ratings increased after the new format was implemented, even beating the Late Show with David Letterman for three consecutive weeks in August 2006 and again in 2008.

On July 11, 2006, in his first appearance on the program since leaving Nightline in November 2005, Ted Koppel made a surprise appearance on that night's broadcast to discuss the prisoner situation at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp with co-anchor Terry Moran, and to discuss his then upcoming series for the Discovery Channel.

On August 7, 2006, ABC shut down full-time Nightline production from Times Square and moved the program to the ABC News Headquarters in Lincoln Square, citing high production costs and logistical problems, though some special editions still do originate from Times Square Studios. In 2009, Nightline announced that an online program was in development that would be hosted by the show's anchors through Twitter, encouraging viewer discussion on the website.

In a 2008 interview with correspondent Bob Woodruff featured on the program, former United States Senator and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards admitted to having had an adulterous affair unbeknownst his wife, Elizabeth, with a campaign staffer (later identified as Rielle Hunter) who worked on his campaign for the then-forthcoming 2008 presidential election, which he would drop out of. In the 2009-2010 television season, the series narrowly beat Late Show with David Letterman as the highest-rated late-night program in the U.S. in terms of total viewers, assisted by the Tonight Show conflict and notable interviews with Bill Clinton, Terry Jones, and Sarah Palin.

2010s

In August 2010, Martin Bashir left Nightline to serve as a correspondent with NBC News and host a daytime news/interview program on MSNBC; he was subsequently replaced by Bill Weir.

On January 20, 2011, ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! (for which Nightline had been serving as its lead-in since that program premiered in January 2003) would have its start time moved five minutes earlier to 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, reducing Nightline's running time from 31 to 25 minutes. It was also announced that ABC would produce up to 13 hours of prime-time news content under the Nightline brand. For the 2011–2012 television season, Nightline again placed as the most-watched late-night television program among the major networks.

In 2011 Goldston departed as executive producer to move to Good Morning America.

On August 21, 2012, ABC announced that the program would switch timeslots with Jimmy Kimmel Live! beginning January 8, 2013: Nightline was moved one hour later to 12:35 a.m. Eastern Time, while Kimmel moved to the program's former 11:35 p.m. timeslot, in order to compete with fellow late night talk shows The Tonight Show and the Late Show with David Letterman. Upon the move, Nightline was also expanded to 30 minutes.

As part of this move, ABC also announced that it would launch a prime time news magazine extension of Nightline, which was originally scheduled to premiere on March 1, 2013; the premiere of this program – later retitled The Lookout, which focuses mainly on consumer reports and is produced by the Nightline staff – was subsequently pushed back to May 29, 2013, airing in a Wednesday 10:00 p.m. Eastern timeslot. Another prime time version of Nightline, Nightline Prime, premiered on March 15, 2014, in a Saturday 9:00 p.m. Eastern timeslot; this series featured reporters using small cameras to cover stories from within.

In October 2013, Good Morning America weekend co-anchor Dan Harris was named as a co-anchor of Nightline, replacing Bill Weir (who had recently left ABC News to become a correspondent for CNN). In August 2014, Cynthia McFadden left Nightline and ABC News to become a correspondent for NBC News, and was replaced as co-anchor by existing ABC News correspondent (and frequent contributor to the program) Juju Chang. On December 18, 2014, it was announced that Dan Abrams would step down as an anchor of the program after that night's broadcast (although he would remain with ABC News as a correspondent and legal analyst), and would be replaced by Byron Pitts effective the following day (December 19).

2020s

From March 16, 2020, Nightline presented extended coverage of the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States; co-anchor Pitts explained that the show was "leaning more heavily into roots", and was consistent with the show itself having been "born in response to a crisis, giving facts, context and, when possible, comfort as our nation dealt with the Iran hostages". It was also announced that the program would temporarily return to its former 11:35 p.m. time slot from March 17 to April 10, replacing Jimmy Kimmel Live! (which went on hiatus with reruns until March 30, when the program returned with original episodes produced from Kimmel's home). Nightline was the highest-rated late-night program that week in total and key demographic viewership.

On March 24, 2020, Nightline marked its 40th anniversary; Ted Koppel made a guest appearance, where he discussed his wife's vulnerability to COVID-19 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and opined that "it's time more than ever in this country to come to the realization that what we need more than anything else, is reliable, credible journalists."

In 2022, ABC News launched a sister newsmagazine, IMPACT x Nightline, that streams on Hulu.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

Note: The anchors alternate hosting duties, without both anchors appearing on every night.

Former on-air staff

Anchors

International broadcasts

Country Network(s) Weekly schedule (local time)
 Australia SBS Viceland 8:10 a.m. (AET)
 Japan NHK BS1 4:30 p.m. (JST)
 Canada ABC
CHCH
Available through ABC stations; Airs at 12:00 a.m. on CHCH

Nightline on Fusion

On February 12, 2015, it was announced that ABC and Univision would launch a new version of Nightline on Fusion called Nightline on Fusion. It was hosted by Gio Benitez and Kimberly Brooks and aired on Tuesdays at 9 pm eastern with repeats at other times. The show was similar to the ABC version and shares resources and correspondents. However, the Fusion version put more emphasis on stories from the flagship program which resonate with Fusion's younger, more culturally diverse target audience. It also featured original content produced for Fusion.

See also

References

  1. Brian Steinberg (September 24, 2014). "Eman Varoqua Named Executive Producer, ABC News' 'Nightline'". Variety.
  2. Suzanne Trimel (April 26, 2000). "Roone Arledge Auditorium And Cinema Dedicated April 25". Columbia University.
  3. "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. April 26, 2002.
  4. "61st Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline". Peabody Award. May 2002.
  5. "62nd Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline: Heart of Darkness". Peabody Award. May 2003.
  6. "62nd Annual Peabody Awards – Award Profile: Nightline: The Survivors". Peabody Award. May 2003.
  7. "82nd Annual Peabody Awards - Award Profile: The Appointment". Peabody Awards. June 2022.
  8. "Arafat Says He Will Never Accept U.S. Conditions for Recognizing PLO". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 18, 1982. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  9. "Imelda Marcos' 3,000 Pairs of Shoes". ABC News. February 5, 1986.
  10. Goodman, Walter (July 8, 1996). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES;Starry Eyes Look Back at Koppel and 'Nightline'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  11. Tucker, Ken (June 14, 1996). "Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 29, 2020. Throughout Nightline the book, the star is referred to in the third person: 'Koppel said' this or that; 'Koppel hadn't been asleep an hour when the phone rang.' Koppel notes in the introduction that 'I have contributed to this book, influenced it; but in the final analysis, Kyle wrote it,' so that probably explains it. Still, Ken Tucker thinks it comes off as silly and self-important of Koppel to have agreed to tell his story this way.
  12. Biddle, Frederic M. (July 24, 1996). "IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT 'NIGHTLINE,' STICK TO THE TV". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  13. Interviewer: Forrest Sawyer (December 3, 1990). "Nightline". ABC. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help) Video on YouTube. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
  14. Joshua Rich (November 20, 1998). "Madonna Banned". Entertainment Weekly. EW.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  15. Paul McCann (May 25, 1998). "Your scoop? Nah. It's ours if we want it". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-21.
  16. "Sinclair known for conservative political tilt". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  17. ^ "Names of U.S. war dead read on 'Nightline'". NBCNews.com. Associated Press. 29 April 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  18. Tuesdays with Morrie includes three chapters called Audiovisuals which chronicle Ted Koppel's visits with Morrie.
  19. ABC News, "Nightline", November 22, 2005
  20. ^ June 2007, Joel Topcik 16 (16 June 2007). "'Nightline' in the Goldston Era". Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved 2020-06-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. Steve Gorman (October 17, 2005). "ABC News unveils new 3-anchor 'Nightline' format". RedOrbit.com. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  22. "'Nightline' developing Twitter show". The Hollywood Reporter. The Live Feed. May 12, 2009.
  23. "Edwards 'Nightline' interview a ratings bust". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  24. "'Nightline' is #1 in Late Night for 2009-2010". TVNewser. 23 September 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  25. Gary Levin (August 21, 2012). "Jimmy Kimmel to go head-to-head vs. David Letterman, Jay Leno". Chicago Sun-Times.
  26. Emily Yah (August 21, 2012). "It's Jimmy Kimmel vs. Leno and Letterman in January; ABC moves 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' to 11:35, 'Nightline' to 12:35". The Washington Post.
  27. Alan Duke (August 21, 2012). "Jimmy Kimmel takes 'Nightline' slot next year". CNN.
  28. Gary Levin (August 21, 2012). "Jimmy Kimmel faces Leno and Letterman head-on in January". USA Today.
  29. Bill Carter (August 21, 2012). "ABC Sees a Contender in Jimmy Kimmel". The New York Times.
  30. Scott Collins (August 21, 2012). "ABC moves Jimmy Kimmel to 11:35 p.m., adds 'Nightline' Friday run". Los Angeles Times.
  31. "ABC News' 'Nightline' Primetime Will Be Re-Branded 'The Lookout'". The Huffington Post. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  32. Rick Kissell (March 13, 2014). "ABC's 'Nightline' Gets Primetime Run Starting This Weekend". Variety. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  33. "Dan Harris Named Co-Anchor of "Nightline"". ABC News. October 11, 2013.
  34. Tim Kenneally (March 27, 2014). "Cynthia McFadden Jumps From ABC to NBC News, Juju Chang to Replace Her on 'Nightline'". The Wrap.
  35. Steinberg, Brian (2020-03-16). "Coronavirus Prods ABC's 'Nightline' to Return to Roots". Variety. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  36. Andreeva, Nellie (2020-03-27). "'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' To Remain At 12:05 AM In First Week Back On Television Amid COVID-9 Pandemic". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  37. Johnson, Ted (2020-03-25). "Ted Koppel, In a Return To 'Nightline', Warns Of Misinformation During Coronavirus Crisis". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  38. "ABC's Nightline-Branded Streaming Newsmagazine Returns for Season 2 on Hulu". 18 September 2023.
  39. "Fusion to Debut Weekly One-Hour Edition of "Nightline" Hosted by ABC's Gio Benitez and Fusion's Kimberly Brooks". FUSION. February 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2017.

External links

Awards for Nightline
TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
TCA Heritage Award
ABC News personalities
ABC World News Tonight
Good Morning America
GMA3: What You Need To Know
GMA Weekend
Nightline
20/20
This Week
What Would You Do?
Good Morning America First Look and
World News Now
  • Andrew Dymburt (co-anchor)
  • Rhiannon Ally (co-anchor)
Principal reporters
(by base city and
primary coverage)
Washington, D.C.
New York City
Field reporters
ABC News Radio
FiveThirtyEight
ABC programming
Primetime
Games
Daytime
Late night
News
Sports
Upcoming
Television and radio news magazine shows in the United States
Broadcast TV
English
Spanish
Cable
Radio
Categories: