Roone Arledge

Roone Arledge (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports broadcasting pioneer who was chairman of ABC News from 1977 until his death.

ABC NEWS

In 1977, ABC made Arledge president of the then low-rated network news division, all while Arledge retained control of the Sports Division. ABC News had at the time been in the middle of blunders such as the disasterous pairing of Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner at the desk of the network's evening news. The previous year, ABC had lured Walters away from NBC's Today Show for $1,000,000.

Related Topics:
Barbara Walters - Harry Reasoner - Today Show

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Arledge's first major creation for ABC was 20/20, which premiered in June 1978. The first program was a genuine disaster, resulting in the firing of the original hosts shortly after the first program, and their replacement with Hugh Downs.

Related Topics:
20/20 - Hugh Downs

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Shortly thereafter, Arledge reformatted the network's evening newscast, allowing Harry Reasoner to return to CBS, and created World News Tonight. anchored by Frank Reynolds in Washington, Max Robinson in Chicago, and Peter Jennings in London. The program expanded to weeknds in 1979. In 1983, Reynolds died of cancer, and Robinson departed the network, and ABC made Jennings the sole anchor of World News Tonight on September 5, 1983. Jennings anchored the broadcast until April 5, 2005, when he announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, of which Jennings would succumb to on August 7, 2005. Currently Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas anchor the program on a rotational basis. At this time, no permanent replacement anchor has been named.

Related Topics:
World News Tonight - Frank Reynolds - Max Robinson - Peter Jennings - September 5 - 1983 - Lung cancer - August 7 - 2005 - Charles Gibson - Elizabeth Vargas

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In 1979, The U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran was taken over by Iranian students, creating the Iranian Hostage Crisis. And on November 4, 1979, Frank Reynolds began anchoring a series of special reports entitled America Held Hostage. Several nights later, Ted Koppel, then the network's Diplomatic correspondent to the U.S. State Department, took over as anchor. The special reports led to the creation of Nightline, which premiered on March 24, 1980. Koppel anchors the broadcast with Chris Bury, and serves as its managing editor. Koppel will retain the position until the end of 2005, when his current contract expires.

Related Topics:
November 4 - 1979 - Ted Koppel - Nightline - March 24 - 1980

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In 1981, Arledge brought David Brinkley to ABC from NBC, and created the Sunday-morning affairs program This Week for Brinkley. Brinkley would retire from the program in 1996. The program is currently anchored by George Stephanopholos.

Related Topics:
David Brinkley - This Week

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The last major news program created during Arledge's reign at ABC news was PrimeTime Live, in 1989. The program was originally anchored by Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer.

Related Topics:
PrimeTime Live - Sam Donaldson - Diane Sawyer

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In 1986, Arledge stepped down as president of ABC Sports. That same year, ABC's World News Tonight began a ten-year domination of the network news ratings.

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In 1998, Arledge retired from ABC News.

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