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''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
' 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 Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise t ...
, the program featured
Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...
as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement in November 2005. Its current, rotating anchors are
Byron Pitts Byron Pitts (born October 21, 1960) is an American journalist and author, working for ABC News as co-anchor for the network's late night news program, ''Nightline''. Until March 2013, he served as a chief national correspondent for '' The CBS Eve ...
and
Juju Chang Hyunju "Juju" Chang (born September 17, 1965) is an American television journalist for ABC News, and currently serves as an anchor of ''Nightline''. She previously served as a special correspondent and fill-in anchor for ''Nightline,'' and was a ...
. ''Nightline'' airs weeknights from 12:37 to 1:07 a.m.,
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
, 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 ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time is ''TV Guide''s list of the 50 most entertaining or influential television series in American pop culture. It appeared in the May 4–10, 2002 issue of the magazine, which was the second in a series ...
. 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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, ''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 ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with weather forecasts, ...
''. There is also a version of ''Nightline'' for sister cable channel
Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
.


''The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage'' (1979)

The program had its beginnings on November 8,
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
, just four days after the start of the
Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
. ABC News president
Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise t ...
felt that the best way to compete against
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
'' was to update Americans on the latest news from
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. 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 Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, Iran as hostages. Originally, '' World News Tonight'' lead anchor
Frank Reynolds Frank James Reynolds (November 29, 1923 – July 20, 1983) was an American television journalist for CBS and ABC News. Reynolds was a New York–based anchor of the ''ABC Evening News'' from 1968 to 1970 and later was the Washington, D. ...
hosted the 20-minute-long special reports. Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program.
Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...
, then ABC News's State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. It was not until a few days later that 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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
flagship station,
WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...
, 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''. 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 Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
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 Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...
, 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. In 1986, the program featured interviews with the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
' first female
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, 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 Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. In 1988, ''Nightline'' conducted a special report on-location from
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In 1996,
Times Books Times Books (previously the New York Times Book Company) is a publishing imprint owned by the New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company. Times Books began as the New York Times Book Company in 1969, when The New York Times Com ...
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 ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' 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 ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' 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 Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
,
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
,
politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
,
society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
, and
breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
). Many candidates for government offices, such as
David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a membe ...
(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 Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...
. In November 1992, science reporter Michael Guillen did the first live broadcast from
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
. 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 John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
( 1980) and
Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
(2004). ''Nightline'' also held a series of
town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...
s; these included the Israeli-Palestinian Town Meeting in 1987, one with Nelson Mandela on June 21, 1990, and one discussing the
War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...
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 CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
and
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
by
Sony Corporation , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
). 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 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
broadcast included longtime
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
executive
Al Campanis Alexander Sebastian Campanis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Σεβαστιανός Καμπάνης; November 2, 1916 – June 21, 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He had a brief major league playing career, as a ...
, who had been with the franchise since before Robinson's debut. When Ted Koppel asked Campanis about why there were so few
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
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, 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 The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
fired Campanis. Later in 1987, the program broadcast an exclusive interview with televangelists
Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...
and
Tammy Faye Bakker Tamara Faye Messner (née LaValley, formerly Bakker ; March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American evangelist, singer, author, talk show host, and television personality. She gained notice for her work with ''The PTL Club'', a televangelist ...
, following the former's sex scandal that brought down their PTL ministry. On December 3, 1990, ''Nightline'' played Madonna's controversial
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
"
Justify My Love "Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album ''The Immaculate Collection'' (1990). It was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records as the lead single from ''The Immaculate Collection''. The song w ...
" in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. The video contained imagery of sadomasochism,
voyeurism Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". ...
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 Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
" 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
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
n dictator Pol Pot, in violation of a verbal agreement between ABC News and
freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
Nate Thayer to use the footage of Pot's trial. Thayer later sued Koppel and ABC News for $30 million in
punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...
and unspecified
compensatory damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
.


Reading of the names

On April 30, 2004, Koppel read the names of members of the
United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
who were killed in the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...
since it began in March 2003. This prompted controversy from
conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
who believed that Koppel was making a political statement and from management at Hunt Valley,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
-based television station owner
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
, 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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', 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 ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...
'', 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, 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 Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...
, 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 ''Tuesdays with Morrie'' is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS. The book topped the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction B ...
'', 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":


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 Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, for which he interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Although the intervie ...
(Goldston's compatriot and colleague on ITV's '' Living with Michael Jackson'') and
Cynthia McFadden Cynthia McFadden (born May 27, 1956) is an American television journalist who is currently the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. She was an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who co-anchored '' Nightline'', and occasio ...
at
Times Square Studios Times Square Studios (TSS) is an American television studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, located on the southeastern corner of West 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The studio is best known as the ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and Terry Moran in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
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 Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, 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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, encouraging viewer discussion on the website. In a 2008 interview with correspondent
Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 alongside ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was ...
featured on the program, former
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate
John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
admitted to having had an adulterous affair unbeknownst his wife,
Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, with a campaign staffer (later identified as
Rielle Hunter Rielle Hunter (born Lisa Jo Druck; March 20, 1964, also known as Lisa Hunter, Lisa Jo Hunter, and Rielle Jaya James Druck)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 William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
,
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
, and Sarah Palin.


2010s

In August 2010,
Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, for which he interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Although the intervie ...
left ''Nightline'' to serve as a correspondent with
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
and host a daytime news/interview program on
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
; 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 CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
). In August 2014, Cynthia McFadden left ''Nightline'' and ABC News to become a correspondent for
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, and was replaced as co-anchor by existing ABC News correspondent (and frequent contributor to the program)
Juju Chang Hyunju "Juju" Chang (born September 17, 1965) is an American television journalist for ABC News, and currently serves as an anchor of ''Nightline''. She previously served as a special correspondent and fill-in anchor for ''Nightline,'' and was a ...
. On December 18, 2014, it was announced that
Dan Abrams Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, legal commentator, and author. He is currently the host of the prime-time show ''Dan Abrams Live'' on NewsNation, ''On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz and ''The Dan Ab ...
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 Byron Pitts (born October 21, 1960) is an American journalist and author, working for ABC News as co-anchor for the network's late night news program, ''Nightline''. Until March 2013, he served as a chief national correspondent for '' The CBS Eve ...
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 tsroots", 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 J''immy 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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
due to
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...
(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."


On-air staff


Current on-air staff


Anchors

*
Byron Pitts Byron Pitts (born October 21, 1960) is an American journalist and author, working for ABC News as co-anchor for the network's late night news program, ''Nightline''. Until March 2013, he served as a chief national correspondent for '' The CBS Eve ...
(2014–present) *
Juju Chang Hyunju "Juju" Chang (born September 17, 1965) is an American television journalist for ABC News, and currently serves as an anchor of ''Nightline''. She previously served as a special correspondent and fill-in anchor for ''Nightline,'' and was a ...
(2014–present) Note: The anchors alternate hosting duties, with neither appearing on the same night.


Former on-air staff


Anchors

*
Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...
(1980–2005) *
Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, for which he interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Although the intervie ...
(2005–2010) * Terry Moran (2005–2013) *
Cynthia McFadden Cynthia McFadden (born May 27, 1956) is an American television journalist who is currently the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. She was an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who co-anchored '' Nightline'', and occasio ...
(2005–2014) * Bill Weir (2010–2013) *
Dan Abrams Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, legal commentator, and author. He is currently the host of the prime-time show ''Dan Abrams Live'' on NewsNation, ''On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz and ''The Dan Ab ...
(2013–2014) * Dan Harris (2013–2019)


International broadcasts


''Nightline on Fusion''

On February 12, 2015, it was announced that ABC and
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
would launch a new version of ''Nightline'' on
Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
called ''Nightline on Fusion''. It is hosted by Gio Benitez and Kimberly Brooks and airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm eastern with repeats at other times. The show is similar to the ABC version and shares resources and correspondents. However, the Fusion version puts more emphasis on stories from the flagship program which resonate with Fusion's younger, more culturally diverse target audience. It also features original content produced for Fusion.


See also

* List of late-night network TV programs * ''
Lateline ''Lateline'' was an Australian television news program which ran from 1990 until 2017. The program initially aired weeknights on ABC TV. In later years it was also broadcast internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific on the Australia Plu ...
'', an Australian program similar to ''Nightline''


References


External links


''Nightline'' website
* Nightline Story o
Spam Arrest
and Hormel Trademark Battle * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightline (Us News Program) ABC News American Broadcasting Company original programming Fusion TV original programming 1980 American television series debuts 1980s American late-night television series 1990s American late-night television series 2000s American late-night television series 2010s American late-night television series 2020s American late-night television series 1980s American television news shows 1990s American television news shows 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows English-language television shows Peabody Award-winning television programs Iran hostage crisis ABC late-night programming Television shows filmed in New York City