ABC, Ted Koppel reach agreement

NEW YORK - After failing to lure David Letterman, ABC&#39;s owners have reached an agreement with ``Nightline&#39;&#39; host Ted Koppel to keep the news show in its late-night time slot for at least two more years. <br> <br> The two-decade-old news program was threatened by ABC&#39;s strong bid for Letterman. His talk show would have supplanted ``Nightline&#39;&#39; in the 11:35 p.m. time slot, but Letterman chose to stay at CBS. <br> <br> Stung by the prospect that he would lose his time slot, Koppel publicly called for a clear signal from ABC parent Walt Disney Co. that ``Nightline&#39;&#39; could count on serious corporate backing. He said the show deserved ``more than bland assurances or a short-term guarantee.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Disney President Robert Iger issued a statement Monday promising to ``renew and reaffirm our support for `Nightline,&#39; one of the network&#39;s signature programs.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A month of private talks produced an agreement in which Koppel said Monday that ``it&#39;s possible to say `Nightline&#39; is even stronger than it was before.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Statements issued by Disney and ABC mentioned no specific promises. But a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity said ``Nightline&#39;&#39; had been promised its time slot for at least two years. <br> <br> ``It took some time to work everything out, but I&#39;m very pleased with how it&#39;s come out in the end,&#39;&#39; Koppel said. <br> <br> Iger said: ``We look forward to working with ABC News to make a strong program even stronger in the coming years. We are confident that `Nightline&#39; will continue to set a high standard for television journalism for years to come.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ABC is unlikely to have given up its hope for a more profitable late-night entertainment show, but no surefire talent appears on the horizon. <br> <br> ABC News President David Westin said he did not believe ``Nightline&#39;&#39; had suffered permanent damage from the episode. <br> <br> ``Normally things like this would be dealt with entirely internally,&#39;&#39; Westin said. ``But because there had been so much reporting and speculation, I think that everyone concluded and, more importantly, Bob concluded, that we put it all to rest.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Westin also said he was comfortable with his support from ABC management. The network&#39;s chief news executive found out about ABC&#39;s courtship of Letterman only hours before it was made public, and several weeks after it was going on privately. <br> <br> Westin said he believed Koppel had been unfairly criticized by stories that talked about his contractual agreement to anchor the show three nights a week. <br> <br> He wouldn&#39;t talk about any changes planned for the show. <br> <br> Koppel said he didn&#39;t believe any changes were needed. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t want to leave the impression that we&#39;re complacent about the broadcast in any way,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We have been working as hard as we can to keep `Nightline&#39; fresh, to keep it on the news, to keep it as relevant as we can possibly make it.&#39;&#39;

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196285