Nightline

Nightline, a live ABC late night news program, debuted on March 24, 1980. Originally a 20-minute Mondaythrough-Thursday-night program (11:30 p.m. Eastern Time), Nightline expanded to a 30-minute Mondaythrough-Friday program in April 1981. Ted Koppel anchored Nightline from its inception until November 22, 2005. Since Koppel's departure, the format of Nightline has changed from one anchor discussing one topic to three co-anchors, broadcasting from Washington and New York, addressing multiple topics. Nightline was groundbreaking in two ways: (1) the program delivered news in a new time slot, and (2) the program's format relied upon new satellite technology.

By the late 1970s, Roone Arledge, president of ABC News, saw the potential of a late night news program that could reach an audience not tuned in to the very popular NBC program, the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. In late 1979, a national crisis provided the argument Arledge used to convince ABC executives of the need for a late night news program. This crisis, the Iranian takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, set in motion the beginnings of Nightline. By November 8, World News Tonight anchor Frank Reynolds was anchoring a late night news program on ABC called America Held Hostage. The Iranian hostage situation, expected by most to last only a few days, continued for over a year. By mid-December 1979, Reynolds returned full time to World News Tonight, and Ted Koppel, an ABC reporter who had been covering the State Department, became the new anchor of America Held Hostage. Within 4 months, a successful late night news slot had been established, and ABC, realizing a program like America Held Hostage had a future beyond the hostage crisis, changed the title to Nightline.

The second significant contribution of Nightline was the program's reliance upon satellite technology as an integral part of its format. Satellite technology in 1979 was a relatively new technology, but by that time, the technology had become more accessible and more affordable. Satellite links enabled newscasters to connect people in ways not possible through other technologies like film and videotape, which had to be physically shipped from place to place. Satellite technology reduced the lag time between covering a story and broadcasting a story. Information was becoming more instantaneous. Satellite technology enabled Nightline to develop the multiperson interview format, a break from the traditional single-person interview format. Because Nightline could conduct live, simultaneous interviews with people from around the world as a result [Page 515]of satellite technology, various arguments and viewpoints have been brought directly into the living rooms of late night America.