In the end, perhaps somewhat predictably, David Westin went with the biggest star.
Today, Mr. Westin, the president of ABC News, officially announced that the network had hired Christiane Amanpour as the new anchor of the Sunday public affairs program, This Week.
The high-profile D.C. gig has been vacant since the fall when George Stephanopoulos replaced Read More
With the audiences for traditional network news shows steadily declining, (see the PEJ’s State of the News Media 2010) executives at the broadcast news divisions are continuing to brainstorm new ideas on how to expand their offerings. For example, ABC News executives, according to multiple sources, have recently tossed around the idea of creating Read More
ABC, undaunted by our general unwillingness to pay for stuff, will be establishing a paywall by June. This isn’t the first time they’ve had such plans, reports paidContent:
Back in 2003, it created a premium programme tied to the 2004 presidential election. Also at that time, ABCNews, along with CNN, put Read More
On Tuesday afternoon, ABC News President David Westin wrote a lengthy memo to his staff detailing the network’s plans to significantly reduce its work force in the weeks and months ahead. We’re still digesting much of the memo, but one sentence immediately caught our attention.
“Our programs are stronger today than they were ten Read More
On Tuesday afternoon, ABC News executives informed their staff that the division will be undergoing a major transformation. Mass buyouts will be offered. And several hundred staff members (up to perhaps one-quarter of the 1200 to 1400 total individuals in the division) are expected to lose their jobs.
In the wake of grim Read More
For weeks, ABC News has been awash in anxiety about a round of looming cuts that are expected to significantly effect the entire division. Today, network executives made the bad news official.
This afternoon, ABC News President David Westin sent out the following memo to staffers:
Over the past several years, we’ve seen a lot Read More
The Observer has learned that today, in yet another grim moment for broadcast television, ABC’s Broadcast Operations & Engineering group laid off dozens of employees. The bulk of the cuts came from the groups New York work force, including many individuals from ABC’s studios on West 66th Street.
The division, which is led by president Read More
Among the many anxieties that hound a broadcast news division president in 2010 (the dangers of Afghanistan, the steady sucking away of viewers to cable TV, the heckling from Jon Stewart, etc.), the cries of media bias from conservative critics remains a constant irritation. Playing defense against allegations that so-and-so has lost his objectivity and Read More
Next week, on the evening of Monday, December 21, Diane Sawyer will make her debut as the new anchor of ABC’s World News, replacing Charles Gibson. On Monday morning, coinciding with the changing of the guard, ABC News will also be unveiling a new version of the World News Web site, The Observer has Read More
On the morning of Friday, Dec. 11, Diane Sawyer said goodbye to Good Morning America viewers after more than ten years of co-hosting ABC’s morning show.
GMA producers marked the day with a series of mellifluous tributes, looking back at a decade of highlights. Ms. Sawyer wading through the high waters of Katrina. Read More
