ABC World News Tonight
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{{Infobox Television | show_name = World News Tonight | image = Image:WNT HIRES 47W2 Hallway.jpg | format = News | runtime = 30 minutes | creator = Roone Arledge | starring = Bob Woodruff, Elizabeth Vargas | country = United States | network = ABC | num_episodes = N/A (airs daily) | first_aired = 1953 (as ABC Evening News), July 10, 1978 (as World News Tonight) | last_aired = present | imdb_id = 0184090 | tv_com_id = 29951 }}
ABC World News Tonight (often abbreviated as WNT) is the ABC television network's flagship evening news program.
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Early years: 1953-1983
ABC first began a nightly newscast in the Fall 1953 with John Charles Daly as anchor of the then 15-minute ABC Evening News. After multiple hosts and formats, 26-year-old Peter Jennings was named anchor of Peter Jennings with the News in 1965. The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes during this time.Image:1978 wnt mpf.jpg
Following Jennings' reassignment as international correspondent in 1968, ABC News was hosted by Bob Young (October 1967 to May 1968), Frank Reynolds (May 1968 to May 1969), and, eventually, Reynolds and Howard K. Smith (May 1969 to December 1970).
Smith and Harry Reasoner, formerly of CBS News and 60 Minutes, co-anchored ABC Evening News beginning in December 1970. In 1975, Reasoner assumed sole anchor responsibilities until his pairing in 1976 with Barbara Walters, the first female network anchor. Ratings for the nightly news broadcast declined shortly thereafter.
Always the perennial third in the national ratings, ABC News President Roone Arledge reformatted the program, relaunching it as World News Tonight on July 10, 1978. Frank Reynolds returned as lead anchor, reporting from Washington D.C. Max Robinson, the first African American network news anchor, anchored national news from Chicago, and, also returning for a second stint, was Jennings, reporting international headlines from London. Occasional contributions included special reports by Barbara Walters and commentary by Howard K. Smith. The program’s distinct and easily identifiable theme was written by Bob Israel. Template:Clear
The Jennings solo era: World News Tonight With Peter Jennings 1983-2005
Image:0 21 jennings peter obit.jpg
In April 1983, Reynolds left the broadcast for health reasons and succumbed to bone cancer on July 20. A rotation of replacement anchors (including Jennings) hosted the program until September 5, 1983 when the program was renamed to reflect the new host, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Robinson left ABC News in 1984, after stints of hosting news briefs and anchoring weekend editions of World News Tonight; he died of AIDS in 1988.
With Jennings as lead anchor, World News Tonight was the most-watched national newscast throughout most of the 1990s, but since 1997 it has been in second place behind its main rival NBC Nightly News.
In April 2005, Jennings announced that he had lung cancer and, as before, a variety of anchors, including 20/20 co-host Elizabeth Vargas and Good Morning America co-host Charles Gibson, filled in for him. Jennings died of lung cancer on August 7, 2005, at his apartment in New York City at the age of 67.
The August 8, 2005 edition of the program was dedicated to Jennings' memory and four-decade career in news. His death ended the era of the three network news anchors of Jennings, Brokaw, and Rather.
During his career, Jennings had reported from every major world capital and war zone, and from all 50 U.S. states, according to the network. The Jennings era was known for his ability to calmly portray events as they were happening. He was known for his covering of many major world events. Template:See
Vargas and Woodruff: 2006-present
Image:WNT HIRES 47W2 Hallway.jpg
Image:Abc woodruff vargas 3.jpg On December 5, 2005, ABC announced Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff would be the new permanent co-anchors starting January 3, 2006, replacing Jennings. People in the news industry look at the choice of Vargas and Woodruff by ABC News as the start of a new era in network television news.
The broadcast is produced live three times per day: the regular Eastern/Central Time zone live broadcast, plus separate broadcasts for the Mountain and Pacific time zones. In addition, a live webcast, World News Now, with a newsbrief and a preview of that evening's broadcast, are produced as well. It airs on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.
On January 29, 2006, Bob Woodruff and his camera-man, Doug Vogt, were injured in a road-side bomb while they rode in an Iraqi military convey in Iraq. Both were operated on at a U.S. military hospital in Balad (50 miles north of Baghdad). It is reported that both men had head injuries even though they were both wearing body armor and helmets. Both men were evacuated to a U.S military hospital in Germany on January 30, 2006. Woodruff and Vogt have since been transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital in the United States for further treatment.
On February 10, 2006 ABC announced that Elizabeth Vargas was pregnant and due to give birth in late summer.
Good Morning America co-hosts Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer have taken turns co-anchoring the newscast with Elizabeth Vargas. It is unknown for now what ABC News plans to do until Bob Woodruff returns to the anchor chair, which appears to be distant, and when Elizabeth starts to go on maternity leave. Rumors fly that Diane Sawyer wants to and could become the sole anchor of WNT in order to beat Katie Couric's switch to the CBS anchor chair.[1] However, the New York Post's Cindy Adams has reported that Charles Gibson will become Bob Woodruff's "Temporary Permanent Replacement". [2] No official announcement has be made regarding the status of the anchoring of WNT.
As of March 2006, the West Coast editions of WNT have been scaled back due to the fact that Elizabeth Vargas is currently anchoring the broadcast as a solo at the present time. [3]
Weekends
WNT expanded to 6 nights a week with World News Tonight Sunday (originally christened World News Sunday, until the mid 1990s) on January 28, 1979, and to a full 7 days with the premiere of World News Tonight Saturday (originally World News Saturday until the mid 1990s) on January 5, 1985. However, in recent years both editions have dropped their respective names short to World News Tonight to match up with the weekday editions. Some former anchors of the weekend news include Sam Donaldson from the mid-1970's to 1988, Carole Simpson from 1988-2003, Terry Moran from 2001-2005, and current World News Tonight anchor Bob Woodruff from 2003-2005. A new weekend anchor, or anchors, are yet to be officially named for 2006 and beyond, though Jim Avila has been anchoring the Saturday edition and Dan Harris has been anchoring the Sunday edition as of late on a temporary basis.