'Nightline' a Go Go
By J. Max Robins -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/14/2005
I may have seen the future of network news, and it includes an ersatz smoky-nightclub set complete with a live jazz quintet, two thirtysomething co-hosts and a comedian. All those elements were part of a super-secret pilot that ABC News shot as a potential candidate to replace the venerable and increasingly vulnerable Nightline. The project even has a logo: “ABC x 2” (read ABC Times Square).
On March 10, ironically the evening after Dan Rather signed off with a final “courage,” I found myself in Times Square peering into Good Morning America's storefront studio that seemed to have had a makeover. Inside, the studio looked like a T.G.I.F. version of a happening after-hours joint. About 60 people sat around lounge-size tables sipping drinks, while a smoke machine help create that special after-hours ambiance. Outside on the street, a crowd of about 35 people could hear the smooth-jazz group hit its groove.
Later, the news-bistro crowd would meet their hosts. One was to be John Berman, who had done able work as an embed in Iraq for ABC News. The other was Jessica Yellin, a recently minted White House correspondent. The plan was for the two to introduce some taped pieces, among other things—and engage in some back-and-forth banter. Out on Broadway, we were told, eventually the crowd inside would see a standup comic doing a Daily Show kind of shtick.
About a month ago, word surfaced in the Long Island, N.Y., daily Newsday that the brass at ABC had asked Nightline to consider expanding to an hour, as well as putting out the call to various divisions, including ESPN, to come up with concepts for an entirely new hour show. The network's commitment to Nightline has been suspect for years. Remember, back in 2002, ABC tried to land Letterman to bump out Koppel and company.
In addition, there is talk about two ABC News stars switching gigs, with George Stephanopoulos taking the helm of Nightline, perhaps from the Times Square studio, and Koppel taking over the Sunday chatfest This Week. Given that Koppel is making millions to work only half-time on Nightline, and This Week is an also-ran among the weekend politico shows, it made some sense that these conversations were under way. After all, no matter how prestigious a news vehicle, Nightline delivers about 3.8 million viewers a night, less than Tonight Show With Jay Leno's 5.8 million and Late Show With David Letterman's 4.6 million.
On the heels of that news, there were reports that ABC News shot a pilot featuring Good Morning America weekend co-host Bill Weir and veteran political commentator Jake Tapper. The tone of the project was described as “freewheeling” and more likely to delve into the seamy side of news, like Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial—the kind of tabloid fodder Nightline generally ignores.
“What we're being told is that the network is workshopping a lot of concepts,” says a source who was involved with the Weir/Tapper project. “It seems the talent they're putting in place to do these shows are merely placeholders.”
From what I hear, the folks at Nightline haven't given up yet. Koppel's keeping quiet, but his longtime executive producer Tom Bettag recently told the Associated Press that, as the show approaches its 25th anniversary, he and Koppel were committed to doing everything they could to “make sure it will go on for another 25 years.”
I hope so, but I'm not counting on it. The way the biz is going, you may be getting your news through manufactured smoke set to the saccharine tones of Kenny G.
E-mail comments to: bcrobins@reedbusiness.com
