Gail Shister
With Disney mulling a management shake-up at floundering ABC, veteran CokieRoberts frets about possible fallout for the news division.
She and her colleagues haven't forgotten that two years ago, CBS's DavidLetterman was secretly offered ABC's 11:35 p.m. slot - home to Ted Koppel'sesteemed Nightline since 1980. It was only Dave's turndown that savedNightline.
"People here are always worried about the network's commitment to news,"says Roberts, in town April 20 to promote her new book, Founding Mothers:The Women Who Raised Our Nation.
Officially, ABC has no comment on any management changes. Unofficially, themost popular scenario has Anne Sweeney, highly regarded president of ABC'scable division, taking on a new role as head of ABC and all of Disney'scable properties.
Those most affected by such a move would be ABC Television Network presidentAlex Wallau and Lloyd Braun, chairman of the Entertainment Television Group.
According to ABC insiders, Wallau may stay in another capacity, but Braun isexpected to take the fall for ABC's horrendous ratings.
Braun reportedly is negotiating an exit from his contract, which has morethan two years remaining. ABC Entertainment chief Susan Lyne is safe,sources say, because she hasn't been at her post as long as has Braun.
Named cochairman in July '99, Braun was promoted to his current title whenLyne was named president in January '02. He reportedly could be gone by theend of next month.
ABC ranks last among the four major networks this season in households,total viewers, and adults 18-49, the demo coveted by advertisers.
Its top scripted series, 8 Simple Rules, ranks 37th on Nielsen's hit chart.And Kingdom Hospital, the new Stephen King series ABC hoped would reverseits losing streak, is on life support.
ABC's dismal performance over the last several years has angered Disneyshareholders. The Disney board recently refused a hostile takeover bid byPhiladelphia-based Comcast, but the offer stands.
Back to ABC News. "Everybody worries that [the maneuvering] isn't over,"Roberts says. "We read about Jay Leno's new contract [with NBC's Tonight],and whither goest [Late Night host] Conan O'Brien?" With O'Brien years awayfrom inheriting Leno's gig, Roberts fears that ABC may make a run at him.
"Will he replace Nightline?" she says.
Roberts, 60, a mother of two and grandmother of four, became an ABCpolitical analyst in '02 after coanchoring the network's This Week for sixyears.
"If I were younger and still aiming for something [at ABC], I'd have a lotmore anxiety. It's not my future anymore... . I worry for the nextgeneration."
Mothers, out Tuesday, is Roberts' third book. It explores what RevolutionaryWar-era American women were doing from the 1730s to the late 1790s while themen were fighting a war and forming a government.
Doing two years of "detective work," Roberts relied on letters and journalsfrom the period.
Women of that era "were very politically aware, interested and involved.Their letters to their husbands are filled with ideas about what kind ofgovernment they think is appropriate."
Speaking of appropriate, Roberts, National Public Radio's senior analyst,says NPR is making a bonehead move by reassigning Bob Edwards, 25-year hostof the popular Morning Edition. She does a live segment with him at 6:10a.m. Mondays.
"When you have 10,000 listeners saying it's a mistake, it's probably amistake. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Not only is Morning Edition notbroke, it's NPR's No. 1 show."
"ER"-bound. Once & Again grad Shane West will join NBC's ER next season as"an athletic and charming new intern," Ray Barnett. He debuts on the11th-season fall premiere.
In films, West costarred with Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember. His othercredits include The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (as Tom Sawyer) andLiberty Heights.
 Zijin (www.zijin.net) studies journalism ,communication, Internet communication. As a privately run website,it was founded on March 18th,2000. Originally named “Zijin Journalism Review", it changed to Zijin on October 18th, 2000. Started by Mr. Zizoo, Zijin is one of China's earlist academic websites on journalism and communication, well-known among its counterparts in China. |
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