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ABC World News Tonight

ABC World News Tonight (titled ABC World News Tonight with David Muir for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network in the United States. It is currently the most watched network newscast in the United States, with an average of 2 million more than its nearest rival, NBC Nightly News. Since 2014, the program's weekday broadcasts have been anchored by David Muir.[3] As of February 6–7, 2021, Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis anchor the weekend editions of the newscast, with Johnson anchoring on Saturdays and Davis anchoring on Sundays.

ABC World News Tonight
Current version of logo, used since 2021
Also known as
  • News and Views
    (1948–1951)
  • After The Deadlines
    (1951–1952)
  • All-Star News
    (1952–1953)
  • John Daly and the News
    (1953–1960)
  • ABC Evening Report
    (1960–1965)
  • Peter Jennings with the News
    (1965–1967)
  • ABC News (1967–1970)
  • ABC Evening News
    (1970–1978)
  • World News Tonight
    (1978–1983)
  • World News Tonight with Peter Jennings
    (1983–2005)
  • World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas
    (2006)
  • World News with Charles Gibson
    (2006–2009)
  • ABC World News with Diane Sawyer
    (2009–2014)
  • ABC World News Tonight with David Muir
    (2014–present)
GenreNews program
Created byRoone Arledge
Directed by
  • Rob Vint
  • Ron Halper
  • David Distinti
  • Paul Verciglio
Presented by
Weekdays:
Narrated byJJ Surma
Theme music composer
ComposerEdd Kalehoff (2020–present)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer
  • Almin Karamehmedovic (2014–present)[1]
Production locationsABC News Headquarters
New York City
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time
  • 15 minutes (1953–1967)
  • 30 minutes (1967–present)
Production companyABC News Productions
Release
Original networkABC
Picture formatHDTV 720p (2008–present)[2]
Original releaseJanuary 13, 1948 (January 13, 1948) –
present
Chronology
RelatedCBS Evening News
NBC Nightly News

The program has been anchored at various times by a number of other presenters since its debut in 1948. It also has used various titles, including ABC Evening News from 1970 to 1978, World News Tonight from 1978 to 2006, World News from 2006 to 2009, and ABC World News from 2009 to 2014. Since 2014, the program has been called ABC World News Tonight.

History

ABC began a nightly newscast in the summer of 1948, when H. R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons hosted News and Views. This was succeeded by After the Deadlines in 1951 and All Star News in 1952. In the fall of 1953, John Daly began anchoring the then-15-minute John Daly and the News. Daly, who had served as host of the CBS game show What's My Line? contemporaneously, anchored the newscast until 1960, with multiple hosts and formats succeeding him. Anchors of the program during the early 1960s, sometimes for short periods, included Alex Dreier, John Secondari, Fendall Winston Yerxa, Al Mann, Bill Shadel, and the three-person team of John Cameron Swayze (formerly of NBC), Bill Lawrence, and Bill Sheehan.[4] In 1962, Ron Cochran was appointed as full-time anchor, staying with the program until 1965. After Cochran left the program, Peter Jennings, a Canadian journalist who was 26 years old at the time, was named anchor of the retitled Peter Jennings with the News.

In 1967, the inexperienced Jennings left the anchor chair and was reassigned by the news division as an international correspondent for the news program. The newly renamed ABC News was hosted, in succession, by Bob Young (October 1967 to May 1968), and then by Frank Reynolds (May 1968 to December 1970), who was later joined by Howard K. Smith (May 1969 to December 1970). The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes in January 1967, nearly 3+12 years after both CBS and NBC had expanded their evening news programs to a half-hour.

Reasoner, Smith, and Walters

Harry Reasoner, formerly of CBS News and 60 Minutes, joined ABC News in 1970 to co-anchor the relaunched and renamed ABC Evening News with Smith, beginning that December, replacing Reynolds. The ratings increased steadily, but still remained in third place, behind dominant CBS and NBC. In 1975, Howard K. Smith was moved to a commentator role, and Reasoner briefly assumed sole-anchor responsibilities until he was paired with Barbara Walters, who became the first female network anchor when she joined the program on October 4, 1976. Ratings for the nightly news broadcast declined shortly thereafter, possibly due in part to the lack of chemistry between Reasoner and Walters. Reasoner would eventually return to CBS and 60 Minutes, while Walters became a regular on the newsmagazine 20/20.

"First News" strategy (1967–1982)

Even in areas with three full-time network affiliates, ABC stations often opted to broadcast the news program in the 6:00 p.m./5:00 p.m. timeslot to entice viewers by presenting the day's national and international news first, thus making it more likely that they would stay tuned to the station's local newscast immediately following the program (or one half-hour afterward), instead of turning to CBS or NBC.

Starting in 1973, before the advent of closed captioning, PBS began airing an open captioned version of the ABC Evening News that was distributed to various public television stations throughout the U.S, airing mostly in late-night timeslots five hours after the original ABC broadcast. This version was produced by WGBH, the Boston PBS station, which provided the captions and repackaged the broadcast with additional news stories – some of which were of special interest to the hearing impaired – as well as late-news developments, weather forecasts, and sports scores inserted in place of commercials. The practice continued until 1982, when real-time closed captioning was first introduced in the United States by the National Captioning Institute.[5]

World News Tonight (first era)

The early years (1978–1983)

Always the perennial third in the national ratings, ABC News president Roone Arledge reformatted the program, relaunching it as World News Tonight in July 1978.[6] Reynolds, who was demoted when the network hired Reasoner, returned as lead anchor, reporting from ABC News' Washington, D.C. bureau. Max Robinson – who became the first African American network news anchor upon his appointment on the program – anchored national news from the news division's Chicago bureau. Peter Jennings, who also returned for a second stint, reported international headlines from the division's London bureau.

Occasional contributions included special reports by Walters, who was credited as anchor of the special coverage desk from New York City and worldwide, and commentary by Smith, who was easing into eventual retirement. The program's distinct and easily identifiable theme (whose four-note musical signature was eventually used on other ABC News programs) was written by Bob Israel. Ratings slowly climbed to the point where World News Tonight eventually beat both NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News, marking the first time ever that ABC had the most-watched network evening newscast.

Peter Jennings's second solo tenure (1983–2005)

In April 1983, Reynolds became ill, leaving both Jennings and Robinson to co-anchor the broadcast until his planned return; however, Reynolds would die three months later on July 20, 1983, from bone cancer. A rotation of anchors hosted the program until August 9, 1983, when ABC announced that Jennings became the sole anchor and senior editor of World News Tonight, which took effect September 5, and on that day, the program began broadcasting from New York City on a regular basis. Bill Owen would replace Bill Rice as announcer for a year.

In September 1984, the program was renamed World News Tonight with Peter Jennings to reflect its sole anchor and senior editor. Robinson left ABC News in 1984, after stints of anchoring news briefs and the weekend editions of World News Tonight; he died from complications of AIDS in 1988. With Jennings as lead anchor, World News Tonight was the most-watched national newscast from February 27, 1989, to November 1, 1996, but from then on until February 2007, it placed second behind its main rival, NBC Nightly News.

In April 2005, Jennings announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and, as before, other ABC News anchors – mostly consisting of 20/20 co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas and Good Morning America co-anchor Charles Gibson – filled in for him. Jennings died of lung cancer on August 7, 2005, at his apartment in New York City, at age 67.

The August 8, 2005, edition of the program was dedicated in memory of Jennings and looked back at his four-decade career in news. His death ended the era of the so-called "Big Three" anchors: Jennings, NBC's Tom Brokaw, and CBS's Dan Rather (the latter two had retired from their positions as the respective anchors of NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News within the year prior to Jennings's death). 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. Jennings was known for his ability to calmly portray events as they were happening and for his coverage of many major world events such as the September 11 attacks and the dawn of the new millennium.

As a tribute to its late anchor, ABC continued to introduce the broadcast as World News Tonight with Peter Jennings in the week following his death. Gibson anchored the broadcast the first part of the week, playing a slow arrangement of the traditional theme music in memory of Jennings; Bob Woodruff anchored the final edition of World News Tonight with Peter Jennings on August 12, 2005. That night's broadcast ended with one of Jennings's favorite pieces of music instead of the traditional theme music. Beginning on August 15, 2005, the broadcast was introduced simply as World News Tonight and it remained that way until January 2006.

Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (January–May 2006)

The program would return to a two-anchor format, when in early December 2005, ABC News announced that Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff would be the new permanent co-anchors of World News Tonight, replacing Jennings. People in the news industry looked at the choice of Vargas and Woodruff by ABC News as the start of a new era in network television news.

The broadcast was produced live three times per day – the regular live broadcast for the Eastern and Central Time Zones, plus separate broadcasts for the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones. In addition, a live webcast, World News Now (which, incidentally, carried the same title as ABC's overnight news program), with a newsbrief and a preview of that evening's broadcast, was launched. The webcast aired live at 3:00 pm. Eastern Time on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com, and could be viewed throughout the rest of the day after 4:00 pm. Eastern Time.[clarification needed]

On January 29, 2006, Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were injured by a road-side bomb while riding in an Iraqi military convoy. Both underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Balad, Iraq (50 miles (80 km) north of Baghdad). Both men incurred head injuries in the incident, even though they were both wearing body armor and helmets. Woodruff and Vogt were then evacuated to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, before later being transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland for further treatment and released for outpatient treatment. Within a few months after Woodruff's accident, ABC News announced that Vargas was pregnant and due to give birth to her second child in late summer.

For about a month, Good Morning America co-hosts Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer had alternated co-anchoring the newscast with Vargas. During the spring of 2006, Vargas mostly anchored the broadcast alone, becoming the first de facto solo female evening news anchor. At the time, it was unknown what ABC News planned to do until Woodruff returned to the anchor chair, which appeared not to be within the near future, and when Vargas began her maternity leave. Rumors flew that Sawyer wanted to become the sole anchor of World News Tonight to beat Katie Couric's switch to the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News.[7] However, New York Post columnist Cindy Adams reported that Gibson would become Woodruff's "temporary permanent replacement".[8] Also starting in the spring of 2006, the West Coast editions of World News Tonight were scaled back because Vargas anchored the broadcast on her own at the time.

World News

Charles Gibson (2006–2009)

 
Charles Gibson anchored World News Tonight, later World News, from 2006 to 2009.
 
Gibson interviews Republican former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson during Thompson's unsuccessful campaign for the Republican Party's 2008 U.S. presidential nomination, September 25, 2007.
 
President Barack Obama with Gibson in the East Room of the White House during ABC News's Prescription for America "town-hall"-style conversation on health care, June 24, 2009.

In May 2006, Vargas announced her resignation from World News Tonight. Charles Gibson was then named sole anchor of the program, effectively replacing Vargas and her injured co-anchor Woodruff.[9] Vargas cited her doctors' recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably because of her maternity leave, and her wish to spend more time with her new baby. She has since returned to co-anchor 20/20 and ABC News specials, and has served as a substitute anchor on World News Tonight under Gibson and his successors.

Woodruff, although still recovering from his injuries, returned to World News Tonight as a correspondent on February 28, 2007.[10]

Some media analysts found the reasons for the appointment of Gibson as anchor to be merely a cover for ABC News's real intentions to bring stability to its flagship news program, which had seen its ratings slip, and to attract some older viewers away from the CBS Evening News with interim anchor Bob Schieffer.[11] Indeed, the advertising campaign focused on Gibson's experience, calling him "Your Trusted Source," similar to a campaign for Jennings, "Trust Is Earned," in the wake of the Killian documents controversy at CBS and Brian Williams's assumption of the NBC anchor chair.[12]

On July 19, 2006, ABC News announced that World News Tonight would have its name officially changed to World News with Charles Gibson.[13] The network chose to make the, albeit minor, change to remove "Tonight" from the title to reflect the program's expansion into the "24-hour space created by the digital world".[14]

In the February 2007 sweeps, World News with Charles Gibson achieved the number-one spot in the Nielsen ratings among the network evening news broadcasts, overtaking NBC Nightly News, marking ABC News' first victory since the week Jennings died in August 2005.

World News with Charles Gibson won the May 2007 sweeps period decisively over NBC Nightly News, marking Gibson's second consecutive sweeps win and widening the program's lead in the evening news race. It was the first time that World News had won consecutive sweeps periods since 1996, the year ABC News ceded the ratings crown to NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. NBC Nightly News retook first place in the November 2007 sweeps[15] and the two programs remained in a tight race until the fall of 2008, when the NBC program established a consistent lead.[16]

On August 25, 2008, World News became the fourth and final network evening newscast to begin broadcasting in HD.[17]

On September 2, 2009, ABC News announced that Gibson would retire from ABC News altogether on December 18, 2009, and that Sawyer would assume the anchor desk on December 21, 2009.[18][failed verification] Gibson's final broadcast ended with a video tribute that included all of the living former U.S. Presidents, former ABC anchors, actors and actresses, singers, comedians, Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, athletes, the commander of the International Space Station, competitors Couric and Williams, and was capped off by U.S. President Barack Obama.[19]

 
Diane Sawyer was the anchor of World News from 2009 to 2014.
 
Advertisement for World News (left) outside of Times Square Studios in 2010

Diane Sawyer (2009–2014)

Long-time ABC journalist and anchorwoman Diane Sawyer (whom previously co-anchored Good Morning America with predecessor Gibson) began anchoring the broadcast, which amended its title to ABC World News, on December 21, 2009. On that date, the program debuted an updated set, new graphics during the introductory segment, along with a new announcer, Mike Rowe (then host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs), who replaced longtime announcer Bill Rice.[20] A new set for the program debuted on August 23, 2010.[21] Substitute anchors for the program during Sawyer's tenure when she was away or on assignment, in addition to Vargas, included David Muir (who by that point, anchored the weekend editions of World News and served as a weekday correspondent), George Stephanopoulos, Cynthia McFadden, Dan Harris, Paula Faris and Byron Pitts (with the exception of McFadden, who left ABC News in August 2014, most of these anchors/correspondents have also served as substitutes following Muir's appointment as anchor of the program).[22]

The Sawyer tenure was marked by a shift towards more "news you can use" features, and less of a focus on hard international news.[23] World News at the time had a 60% female viewership, the highest of the three major network evening newscasts.[24]

On October 1, 2012, World News debuted a new logo, opening theme (which was composed by Hans Zimmer, replacing the longtime Bob Israel-composed theme), an updated set and new graphics package. The program also introduced a segment called the "Instant Index", a feature appearing as the penultimate segment of each night's broadcast focusing on news stories that are trending on social media, pop culture and entertainment-related stories and viral videos. Another feature introduced during Sawyer's tenure was "Made in America", a feature segment reported by David Muir, chronicling enterprising American companies.

On June 25, 2014, ABC News announced that Sawyer would step down as the weekday anchor of ABC World News; Sawyer would be succeeded by the program's then weekend anchor, David Muir, effective September 2.[25][26] On July 28, 2014, the program debuted a slightly updated set, which includes a new, larger monitor behind the anchor desk. Diane Sawyer ultimately decided to end her tenure as anchor of ABC World News nearly a week before Muir began as anchor of the weeknight editions on August 27, 2014, to spend time with family.[27] By the time Sawyer left World News, the program was the No. 1 network evening newscast in all major key demographics and significantly closed the ratings gap with NBC Nightly News in total viewership.[28]

World News Tonight (second era)

David Muir (2014–present)

 
Muir interviewing President Donald Trump in 2020

David Muir became the weekday anchor and managing editor of the program on September 1, 2014, while retaining his duties as co-anchor of 20/20.[3] At the same time, Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos assumed the news division's Chief Anchor position that had traditionally been assigned to the anchor of World News.[29] Following the departure of Diane Sawyer, the title of the program was also silently rebranded back to World News Tonight for the first time since 2006, albeit with "ABC" attached to the title.[14] Primary substitutes are Stephanopoulos, Rebecca Jarvis, and Amy Robach.

World News Tonight has broadcast from San Bernardino, Orlando, Paris, and Brussels after terrorist attacks, and from Dallas after five policemen were shot dead in July 2016.[30] In November 2016, World News Tonight was the most-watched network primetime newscast for the first time in 18 years. The last time World News held the top spot was during the 1998–99 season when Peter Jennings sat at the anchor's desk, according to Nielsen.[31]

World News Tonight was the most-watched network evening newscast for the week of March 30, 2015. This marked the first time in seven years that the program finished at No. 1, beating out NBC Nightly News in all categories.[32] On August 10, 2020, World News Tonight marked 11 consecutive weeks as "America's Most-Watched Show".[33]

On September 8, 2020, World News Tonight debuted a new title card, reintroduced the long-time Bob Israel-composed opening theme (replacing the Hans Zimmer theme), and revealed an updated set and new graphics package.

Anchors

Weekdays

  • H. R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons (News and Views, August 11, 1948 – March 30, 1951)[34]
  • Unknown (After the Deadlines, April 2, 1951 – October 3, 1952)
  • Bryson Rash, Pauline Frederick, Gordon Fraser and Leo Cherne (All-Star News, October 6, 1952 – January 2, 1953 – primetime news, one hour Mondays and Wednesdays, half hour other nights)
  • ABC network had no evening news broadcast Monday through Friday (January 5, 1953 – October 9, 1953)
  • John Daly (John Daly and the News, October 12, 1953 – September 12, 1958)
  • Don Goddard (ABC News, September 15, 1958 – May 8, 1959, at 7:15–7:30 (Eastern and Pacific Time), followed three hours later by John Daly and the News at 10:30–10:45 (Eastern and Pacific))
  • John Daly (John Daly and the News, May 11, 1959 – December 16, 1960)
  • Bill Shadel (ABC Evening Report, December 19, 1960 – September 22, 1961)
  • Bill Lawrence, Al Mann and John Cameron Swayze (ABC Evening Report, September 25, 1961 – March 23, 1962, at 6 or 7, followed four or five hours later by 10-minute ABC News Final with Ron Cochran)
  • Ron Cochran (ABC Evening Report, March 26, 1962 – January 29, 1965) also anchorman for 10-minute news at 11 pm until March 29, 1963; followed on the late news by Murphy Martin (April 2, 1963 – January 3, 1964) and Bob Young (January 6, 1964 – January 8, 1965)[35]
  • Peter Jennings (Peter Jennings with the News, February 1, 1965 – October 13, 1967 – program expanded to half-hour as ABC News on January 9, 1967)
  • Bob Young (ABC News, October 16, 1967 – May 24, 1968)
  • Frank Reynolds (ABC News, May 27, 1968 – May 16, 1969)
  • Frank Reynolds and Howard K. Smith (ABC News, May 19, 1969 – December 4, 1970)[36]
  • Howard K. Smith and Harry Reasoner (ABC Evening News, December 7, 1970 – September 5, 1975)
  • Harry Reasoner (ABC Evening News, September 8, 1975 – October 1, 1976)
  • Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters (ABC Evening News, October 4, 1976 – July 7, 1978)
  • Frank Reynolds, Max Robinson and Peter Jennings (World News Tonight, July 10, 1978 – April 20, 1983)
  • Max Robinson and Peter Jennings (World News Tonight, April 23, 1983 – August 8, 1983)
  • Peter Jennings (World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, August 9, 1983 – April 5, 2005)
  • Interim anchors Charles Gibson, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff (World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, April 6, 2005 – August 12, 2005; World News Tonight, August 15, 2005 – January 2, 2006)[37]
  • Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas, January 3  – May 26, 2006)
  • Charles Gibson (World News with Charles Gibson, May 29, 2006 – December 18, 2009)
  • Diane Sawyer (ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, December 21, 2009 – August 27, 2014)
  • David Muir (ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, since September 1, 2014)

Weekends

Weekend newscasts

ABC first attempted an early evening weekend newscast in July 1975, when it debuted a Saturday bulletin that was anchored by Ted Koppel and taken over by Tom Jarriel and Sylvia Chase in 1977. The broadcast, however, was not carried by many stations, and was cancelled in January 1979.

Following the Saturday news cancellation, and after the flagship weeknight broadcast became World News Tonight, the program premiered World News Sunday on January 28, 1979, and expanded to a full seven days with the restoration of a Saturday newscast (World News Saturday) on January 5, 1985, years after NBC and CBS had each launched their own weekend evening news programs. These editions added the word "Tonight" to the program title in the mid-1990s, further unifying it with the weekday editions, and in the mid-2000s, their respective names were shortened uniformly to World News Tonight to correspond with those broadcasts. However, the original names were restored on July 19, 2006, concurrent with the retitling of the weekday broadcasts, but the opening title sequence displayed the name as World News for both the Saturday and Sunday editions.

Prior to 1975, the only network newscasts that ABC stations broadcast on weekends were 15-minute late-night updates on Saturdays and Sundays, known as ABC Weekend News and later, ABC News Weekend Report. The programs were fed to affiliates at 11:00 pm Eastern/10:00 pm Central and were seen in tandem with the stations' own late newscasts, although some stations opted to tape-delay the network updates until immediately before their regular sign-off time (rival CBS also offered a 15-minute Sunday night bulletin during the 1970s until 1997). Because of declining affiliate interest (in part because of the proliferation of 24-hour cable news channels such as CNN) and low viewership, ABC discontinued the late-night weekend reports in September 1991.

In addition, starting in 1973, weeknight co-anchor Harry Reasoner hosted The Reasoner Report, a half-hour topical analysis of important stories (especially breaking developments in the Watergate scandal) in the vein of CBS's 60 Minutes, which Reasoner himself co-moderated at two different times. Affiliates usually carried the program on Saturday evenings in the time slots where the main newscast aired on weeknights. The program, which had affiliate clearance problems and was thus unsuccessful in terms of ratings, ended in 1975, replaced by the network's inaugural Saturday newscast (see above).

Some former anchors of the weekend news broadcasts include Sam Donaldson (Sunday edition, 1979–1989), Kathleen Sullivan (Saturday edition, 1985–1987), Barry Serafin (Saturday edition, 1987–1988), Forrest Sawyer (Sunday edition, 1989–1993), Carole Simpson (Saturday edition, 1988–1993; Sunday edition, 1993–2003), Elizabeth Vargas (Saturday edition, 1997–2003; Sunday edition, 2003–2004), Jim Avila (Saturday edition, 2006–2007), Terry Moran (Saturday edition, 2004–2005), Bob Woodruff (Sunday edition, 2004–2005), Dan Harris (Sunday edition, 2006–2011) and David Muir (Saturday edition, 2007–2011; Saturday and Sunday editions, 2011–2014). Muir, who had taken over World News Saturday in 2007, took over the Sunday broadcast in 2011, ending the practice of using separate anchors for the Saturday and Sunday editions of the program, with ABC renaming both broadcasts as ABC World News with David Muir as a result. David Muir anchored the weekend program until he took over the weekday broadcast in September 2014. The program returned to using separate anchors for the weekend broadcasts afterward, with Cecilia Vega being named anchor of the Saturday broadcast and Tom Llamas named anchor of the Sunday edition in February 2015. After Vega was named senior White House correspondent, Llamas was named sole weekend anchor in January 2017, as the practice of using separate anchors for the Saturday and Sunday editions ended once again. Llamas subsequently left in January 2021, to join NBC News. In February 2021, Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis were announced as anchors of the weekend edition, with Johnson anchoring on Saturday and Davis anchoring on Sunday.[38]

Some ABC affiliates air the Saturday and Sunday editions of World News Tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Central and Mountain)‍—‌one half-hour earlier than the weekday broadcasts. The weekend editions of World News Tonight may periodically be abbreviated or preempted outright due to sports telecasts that overrun into its timeslot or occasionally air immediately following the program (the latter preemption situation commonly affects stations in the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones); this is particularly common during fall, as the Saturday broadcast does not air at all from September through mid December due to ABC's college football coverage and during the winter and spring, when the Sunday broadcast is sometimes delayed or preempted due to overruns of the network's NBA telecasts.

International newscasts

ABC News programs, including ABC World News Tonight, are shown for several hours a day on the 24-hour news network OSN News in MENA Region.

In the United Kingdom, the program was shown Tuesday through Fridays at 1:30 a.m. on BBC News, a channel that is frequently simulcast by BBC One at this time, meaning the program was broadcast on analogue terrestrial television in many parts of that country until the digital transition. The newscast was aired on a delay, in part because of the need to remove commercial advertisements, as the BBC's domestic channels operate as commercial-free services via a television license fee, replacing them with promotions for different BBC News special programs. The program was replaced by Asia Business Report and Sport Today on June 14, 2011, but later returned to the channel on August 20, 2012. It was also available on the BBC's on-demand service BBC iPlayer for 28 days after its domestic broadcast. The program was replaced again by Asia Business Report and Sport Today on March 30, 2015.[39]

In Australia, WNT were aired every morning at 10:30 am. AET on Sky News Australia until it was moved to SBS and SBS Viceland in July 2019.[40] In New Zealand, WNT is shown at 5:10 p.m. on Sky News New Zealand.

In Hong Kong, the program was broadcast live on TVB Pearl daily at 07:30 until 08:00 HKT until May 31, 2009, when it was replaced by NBC Nightly News. In Japan, it airs on NHK BS 1 as part of the weekday morning program Catch! Sekai no Top News (Catch the Global Top News)[41] and later on World News,[42] and in clip form during the English language educational program Kōryaku! ABC News Eigo (Strategies! ABC News English) until its end in March 2021.[43]

In Belize, Great Belize Television carries all editions of World News Tonight each weekday at 8:00 p.m. and weekends at 7:00 p.m.

References

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  2. ^ Glen Dickson (August 25, 2008). . Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved September 24, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b "Meet David Muir, the Man Taking Over ABC's 'World News'". Entertainment Tonight. August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  4. ^ Matusow, Barbara (1983). The Evening Stars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 138, 140–41. ISBN 0-395-33968-5.
  5. ^ . National Captioning Institute. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2011. The ABC News was rebroadcast on PBS five hours after its broadcast on ABC-TV. From the time The Captioned ABC News was first produced in 1973, it was the only timely newscast accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people until NCI's real-time captioning service started in 1982.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Gary Edgerton (2010). The Columbia History of American Television. Columbia University Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-231-51218-3.
  7. ^ "When would Diane take over WNT". TVNewser. March 9, 2006. from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  8. ^ . TVNewser. March 13, 2006. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  9. ^ . ABC News. November 19, 2002. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  10. ^ . Zap2it. May 26, 2006. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ Joe Garofoli (May 24, 2006). "ABC News Turns to Morning Host to Take on Couric". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  12. ^ "Charles Gibson: Your Trusted Source". TVNewser. May 29, 2006. from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  13. ^ "ABC's Flagship Newscast Changes Name to 'World News With Charles Gibson' – New Name Reflects Program's Place in the 24-Hour Digital Space". ABC News. July 19, 2006. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  14. ^ a b "ABC Brings 'Tonight' Back to 'World News'". TVNewser. August 29, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  15. ^ "Evening News Ratings: Williams Tops Gibson In November Sweeps". The New York Times. December 4, 2007.
  16. ^ "A Matrix of News Winners Buoys NBC". The New York Times. March 8, 2009.
  17. ^ Dickson, Glen (August 25, 2008). "EXCLUSIVE: World News Kicks Off HD Expansion at ABC". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  18. ^ Brian Stelter; Bill Carter (December 1, 2009). "ABC Plans Low-Key Handoff for 'World News'". The New York Times. from the original on December 4, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  19. ^ "Charles Gibson, last broadcast". YouTube. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  20. ^ Chris Ariens (December 22, 2009). "A Much Cleaner Job for Mike Rowe: The Voice of 'World News with Diane Sawyer". Politico. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  21. ^ . TVNewser. August 23, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2011.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ Mike Allen (October 18, 2009). "George Stephanopoulos Role Grows at ABC". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  23. ^ Julie Moos (October 18, 2011). . Poynter. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  24. ^ David Bauder (October 17, 2011). "New life in television's evening news". Yahoo News. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  25. ^ "Diane Sawyer to Step Down as 'World News' Anchor". ABC News. June 25, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  26. ^ "Diane Sawyer stepping down from ABC's 'World News'". USA Today. June 25, 2014.
  27. ^ Diane Sawyer (August 27, 2014). "See you tonight for my last night anchoring @ABCWorldNews – great adventures ahead !". Twitter.
  28. ^ ""World News" Wins Among Adults 25–54 and Adults 18–49 with Largest Margins Since 2007". ABC News. September 2014.
  29. ^ Gary Levin (June 25, 2014). "ABC News changes mark a big 'turning point'". USA Today. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  30. ^ "ABC's 'World News Tonight' anchor David Muir reflects on two years behind the desk". Los Angeles Times. September 5, 2016. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  31. ^ "World News Tonight Is No. 1 for First Time in 18 years". Entertainment Weekly. November 30, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  32. ^ "ABC World News Tonight is No. 1 For First Time in 7 years". adweek.com. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  33. ^ "Week of Aug. 10 Evening News Ratings: World News Tonight Marks 11 Consecutive Weeks as America's Most-Watched Show". adweek.it. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  34. ^ Shedden, David (April 4, 2006; updated September 8, 2011). "Early TV Anchors" December 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Poynter Institute. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  35. ^ "Miscellaneous Notes", The New York Times (January 3, 1964, p.49) Retrieved October 26, 2018
  36. ^ Auster, Albert (undated). "Smith, Howard K." August 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  37. ^ "ABC Names Anchors of 'World News Tonight'". The New York Times. December 5, 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  38. ^ Ted Johnson (February 1, 2021). "Linsey Davis, Whit Johnson To Anchor Weekend 'World News Tonight'". Deadline. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  39. ^ "BBC News Channel – ABC World News Tonight with David Muir".
  40. ^ Knox, David (July 1, 2019). "SBS secures news content from ABC (USA)". TV Tonight. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  41. ^ "キャッチ!世界のトップニュース" [Catch! Sekai no Top News]. NHK. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  42. ^ "ワールドニュース" [World News]. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  43. ^ "攻略!ABCニュース英語" [Kōryaku! ABC News Eigo]. NHK. Retrieved September 7, 2022.

External links

  • Official website  
  • ABC World News Tonight at IMDb (includes production details on World News Tonight and World News)
  • ABC News themes



world, news, tonight, titled, with, david, muir, weeknight, broadcasts, since, september, 2014, flagship, daily, evening, television, news, program, news, news, division, american, broadcasting, company, television, network, united, states, currently, most, wa. ABC World News Tonight titled ABC World News Tonight with David Muir for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014 is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News the news division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC television network in the United States It is currently the most watched network newscast in the United States with an average of 2 million more than its nearest rival NBC Nightly News Since 2014 the program s weekday broadcasts have been anchored by David Muir 3 As of February 6 7 2021 Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis anchor the weekend editions of the newscast with Johnson anchoring on Saturdays and Davis anchoring on Sundays ABC World News TonightCurrent version of logo used since 2021Also known asNews and Views 1948 1951 After The Deadlines 1951 1952 All Star News 1952 1953 John Daly and the News 1953 1960 ABC Evening Report 1960 1965 Peter Jennings with the News 1965 1967 ABC News 1967 1970 ABC Evening News 1970 1978 World News Tonight 1978 1983 World News Tonight with Peter Jennings 1983 2005 World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas 2006 World News with Charles Gibson 2006 2009 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer 2009 2014 ABC World News Tonight with David Muir 2014 present GenreNews programCreated byRoone ArledgeDirected byRob Vint Ron Halper David Distinti Paul VerciglioPresented byWeekdays David Muir Saturdays Whit Johnson Sundays Linsey Davis See former anchors Narrated byJJ SurmaTheme music composerBob Israel 1978 1990 Score Productions 1990 1996 Edd Kalehoff 1996 2012 2020 present Hans Zimmer 2012 2020 ComposerEdd Kalehoff 2020 present Country of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishProductionExecutive producerAlmin Karamehmedovic 2014 present 1 Production locationsABC News HeadquartersNew York CityCamera setupMulti cameraRunning time15 minutes 1953 1967 30 minutes 1967 present Production companyABC News ProductionsReleaseOriginal networkABCPicture formatHDTV 720p 2008 present 2 Original releaseJanuary 13 1948 January 13 1948 presentChronologyRelatedCBS Evening NewsNBC Nightly NewsThe program has been anchored at various times by a number of other presenters since its debut in 1948 It also has used various titles including ABC Evening News from 1970 to 1978 World News Tonight from 1978 to 2006 World News from 2006 to 2009 and ABC World News from 2009 to 2014 Since 2014 the program has been called ABC World News Tonight Contents 1 History 1 1 Reasoner Smith and Walters 1 2 First News strategy 1967 1982 1 3 World News Tonight first era 1 3 1 The early years 1978 1983 1 3 2 Peter Jennings s second solo tenure 1983 2005 1 3 3 Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas January May 2006 1 4 World News 1 4 1 Charles Gibson 2006 2009 1 4 2 Diane Sawyer 2009 2014 1 5 World News Tonight second era 1 5 1 David Muir 2014 present 2 Anchors 2 1 Weekdays 2 2 Weekends 3 Weekend newscasts 4 International newscasts 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditABC began a nightly newscast in the summer of 1948 when H R Baukhage and Jim Gibbons hosted News and Views This was succeeded by After the Deadlines in 1951 and All Star News in 1952 In the fall of 1953 John Daly began anchoring the then 15 minute John Daly and the News Daly who had served as host of the CBS game show What s My Line contemporaneously anchored the newscast until 1960 with multiple hosts and formats succeeding him Anchors of the program during the early 1960s sometimes for short periods included Alex Dreier John Secondari Fendall Winston Yerxa Al Mann Bill Shadel and the three person team of John Cameron Swayze formerly of NBC Bill Lawrence and Bill Sheehan 4 In 1962 Ron Cochran was appointed as full time anchor staying with the program until 1965 After Cochran left the program Peter Jennings a Canadian journalist who was 26 years old at the time was named anchor of the retitled Peter Jennings with the News In 1967 the inexperienced Jennings left the anchor chair and was reassigned by the news division as an international correspondent for the news program The newly renamed ABC News was hosted in succession by Bob Young October 1967 to May 1968 and then by Frank Reynolds May 1968 to December 1970 who was later joined by Howard K Smith May 1969 to December 1970 The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes in January 1967 nearly 3 1 2 years after both CBS and NBC had expanded their evening news programs to a half hour Reasoner Smith and Walters Edit Harry Reasoner formerly of CBS News and 60 Minutes joined ABC News in 1970 to co anchor the relaunched and renamed ABC Evening News with Smith beginning that December replacing Reynolds The ratings increased steadily but still remained in third place behind dominant CBS and NBC In 1975 Howard K Smith was moved to a commentator role and Reasoner briefly assumed sole anchor responsibilities until he was paired with Barbara Walters who became the first female network anchor when she joined the program on October 4 1976 Ratings for the nightly news broadcast declined shortly thereafter possibly due in part to the lack of chemistry between Reasoner and Walters Reasoner would eventually return to CBS and 60 Minutes while Walters became a regular on the newsmagazine 20 20 First News strategy 1967 1982 Edit Even in areas with three full time network affiliates ABC stations often opted to broadcast the news program in the 6 00 p m 5 00 p m timeslot to entice viewers by presenting the day s national and international news first thus making it more likely that they would stay tuned to the station s local newscast immediately following the program or one half hour afterward instead of turning to CBS or NBC Starting in 1973 before the advent of closed captioning PBS began airing an open captioned version of the ABC Evening News that was distributed to various public television stations throughout the U S airing mostly in late night timeslots five hours after the original ABC broadcast This version was produced by WGBH the Boston PBS station which provided the captions and repackaged the broadcast with additional news stories some of which were of special interest to the hearing impaired as well as late news developments weather forecasts and sports scores inserted in place of commercials The practice continued until 1982 when real time closed captioning was first introduced in the United States by the National Captioning Institute 5 World News Tonight first era Edit The early years 1978 1983 Edit Always the perennial third in the national ratings ABC News president Roone Arledge reformatted the program relaunching it as World News Tonight in July 1978 6 Reynolds who was demoted when the network hired Reasoner returned as lead anchor reporting from ABC News Washington D C bureau Max Robinson who became the first African American network news anchor upon his appointment on the program anchored national news from the news division s Chicago bureau Peter Jennings who also returned for a second stint reported international headlines from the division s London bureau Occasional contributions included special reports by Walters who was credited as anchor of the special coverage desk from New York City and worldwide and commentary by Smith who was easing into eventual retirement The program s distinct and easily identifiable theme whose four note musical signature was eventually used on other ABC News programs was written by Bob Israel Ratings slowly climbed to the point where World News Tonight eventually beat both NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News marking the first time ever that ABC had the most watched network evening newscast Peter Jennings s second solo tenure 1983 2005 Edit In April 1983 Reynolds became ill leaving both Jennings and Robinson to co anchor the broadcast until his planned return however Reynolds would die three months later on July 20 1983 from bone cancer A rotation of anchors hosted the program until August 9 1983 when ABC announced that Jennings became the sole anchor and senior editor of World News Tonight which took effect September 5 and on that day the program began broadcasting from New York City on a regular basis Bill Owen would replace Bill Rice as announcer for a year In September 1984 the program was renamed World News Tonight with Peter Jennings to reflect its sole anchor and senior editor Robinson left ABC News in 1984 after stints of anchoring news briefs and the weekend editions of World News Tonight he died from complications of AIDS in 1988 With Jennings as lead anchor World News Tonight was the most watched national newscast from February 27 1989 to November 1 1996 but from then on until February 2007 it placed second behind its main rival NBC Nightly News In April 2005 Jennings announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and as before other ABC News anchors mostly consisting of 20 20 co anchor Elizabeth Vargas and Good Morning America co anchor Charles Gibson filled in for him Jennings died of lung cancer on August 7 2005 at his apartment in New York City at age 67 The August 8 2005 edition of the program was dedicated in memory of Jennings and looked back at his four decade career in news His death ended the era of the so called Big Three anchors Jennings NBC s Tom Brokaw and CBS s Dan Rather the latter two had retired from their positions as the respective anchors of NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News within the year prior to Jennings s death 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 Jennings was known for his ability to calmly portray events as they were happening and for his coverage of many major world events such as the September 11 attacks and the dawn of the new millennium As a tribute to its late anchor ABC continued to introduce the broadcast as World News Tonight with Peter Jennings in the week following his death Gibson anchored the broadcast the first part of the week playing a slow arrangement of the traditional theme music in memory of Jennings Bob Woodruff anchored the final edition of World News Tonight with Peter Jennings on August 12 2005 That night s broadcast ended with one of Jennings s favorite pieces of music instead of the traditional theme music Beginning on August 15 2005 the broadcast was introduced simply as World News Tonight and it remained that way until January 2006 Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas January May 2006 Edit The program would return to a two anchor format when in early December 2005 ABC News announced that Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff would be the new permanent co anchors of World News Tonight replacing Jennings People in the news industry looked at the choice of Vargas and Woodruff by ABC News as the start of a new era in network television news The broadcast was produced live three times per day the regular live broadcast for the Eastern and Central Time Zones plus separate broadcasts for the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones In addition a live webcast World News Now which incidentally carried the same title as ABC s overnight news program with a newsbrief and a preview of that evening s broadcast was launched The webcast aired live at 3 00 pm Eastern Time on ABC News Now and ABCNews com and could be viewed throughout the rest of the day after 4 00 pm Eastern Time clarification needed On January 29 2006 Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt were injured by a road side bomb while riding in an Iraqi military convoy Both underwent surgery at a U S military hospital in Balad Iraq 50 miles 80 km north of Baghdad Both men incurred head injuries in the incident even though they were both wearing body armor and helmets Woodruff and Vogt were then evacuated to a U S military hospital in Germany before later being transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland for further treatment and released for outpatient treatment Within a few months after Woodruff s accident ABC News announced that Vargas was pregnant and due to give birth to her second child in late summer For about a month Good Morning America co hosts Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer had alternated co anchoring the newscast with Vargas During the spring of 2006 Vargas mostly anchored the broadcast alone becoming the first de facto solo female evening news anchor At the time it was unknown what ABC News planned to do until Woodruff returned to the anchor chair which appeared not to be within the near future and when Vargas began her maternity leave Rumors flew that Sawyer wanted to become the sole anchor of World News Tonight to beat Katie Couric s switch to the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News 7 However New York Post columnist Cindy Adams reported that Gibson would become Woodruff s temporary permanent replacement 8 Also starting in the spring of 2006 the West Coast editions of World News Tonight were scaled back because Vargas anchored the broadcast on her own at the time World News Edit Charles Gibson 2006 2009 Edit Charles Gibson anchored World News Tonight later World News from 2006 to 2009 Gibson interviews Republican former U S Senator Fred Thompson during Thompson s unsuccessful campaign for the Republican Party s 2008 U S presidential nomination September 25 2007 President Barack Obama with Gibson in the East Room of the White House during ABC News s Prescription for America town hall style conversation on health care June 24 2009 In May 2006 Vargas announced her resignation from World News Tonight Charles Gibson was then named sole anchor of the program effectively replacing Vargas and her injured co anchor Woodruff 9 Vargas cited her doctors recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably because of her maternity leave and her wish to spend more time with her new baby She has since returned to co anchor 20 20 and ABC News specials and has served as a substitute anchor on World News Tonight under Gibson and his successors Woodruff although still recovering from his injuries returned to World News Tonight as a correspondent on February 28 2007 10 Some media analysts found the reasons for the appointment of Gibson as anchor to be merely a cover for ABC News s real intentions to bring stability to its flagship news program which had seen its ratings slip and to attract some older viewers away from the CBS Evening News with interim anchor Bob Schieffer 11 Indeed the advertising campaign focused on Gibson s experience calling him Your Trusted Source similar to a campaign for Jennings Trust Is Earned in the wake of the Killian documents controversy at CBS and Brian Williams s assumption of the NBC anchor chair 12 On July 19 2006 ABC News announced that World News Tonight would have its name officially changed to World News with Charles Gibson 13 The network chose to make the albeit minor change to remove Tonight from the title to reflect the program s expansion into the 24 hour space created by the digital world 14 In the February 2007 sweeps World News with Charles Gibson achieved the number one spot in the Nielsen ratings among the network evening news broadcasts overtaking NBC Nightly News marking ABC News first victory since the week Jennings died in August 2005 World News with Charles Gibson won the May 2007 sweeps period decisively over NBC Nightly News marking Gibson s second consecutive sweeps win and widening the program s lead in the evening news race It was the first time that World News had won consecutive sweeps periods since 1996 the year ABC News ceded the ratings crown to NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw NBC Nightly News retook first place in the November 2007 sweeps 15 and the two programs remained in a tight race until the fall of 2008 when the NBC program established a consistent lead 16 On August 25 2008 World News became the fourth and final network evening newscast to begin broadcasting in HD 17 On September 2 2009 ABC News announced that Gibson would retire from ABC News altogether on December 18 2009 and that Sawyer would assume the anchor desk on December 21 2009 18 failed verification Gibson s final broadcast ended with a video tribute that included all of the living former U S Presidents former ABC anchors actors and actresses singers comedians Mickey Mouse Kermit the Frog athletes the commander of the International Space Station competitors Couric and Williams and was capped off by U S President Barack Obama 19 Diane Sawyer was the anchor of World News from 2009 to 2014 Advertisement for World News left outside of Times Square Studios in 2010 Diane Sawyer 2009 2014 Edit Long time ABC journalist and anchorwoman Diane Sawyer whom previously co anchored Good Morning America with predecessor Gibson began anchoring the broadcast which amended its title to ABC World News on December 21 2009 On that date the program debuted an updated set new graphics during the introductory segment along with a new announcer Mike Rowe then host of Discovery Channel s Dirty Jobs who replaced longtime announcer Bill Rice 20 A new set for the program debuted on August 23 2010 21 Substitute anchors for the program during Sawyer s tenure when she was away or on assignment in addition to Vargas included David Muir who by that point anchored the weekend editions of World News and served as a weekday correspondent George Stephanopoulos Cynthia McFadden Dan Harris Paula Faris and Byron Pitts with the exception of McFadden who left ABC News in August 2014 most of these anchors correspondents have also served as substitutes following Muir s appointment as anchor of the program 22 The Sawyer tenure was marked by a shift towards more news you can use features and less of a focus on hard international news 23 World News at the time had a 60 female viewership the highest of the three major network evening newscasts 24 On October 1 2012 World News debuted a new logo opening theme which was composed by Hans Zimmer replacing the longtime Bob Israel composed theme an updated set and new graphics package The program also introduced a segment called the Instant Index a feature appearing as the penultimate segment of each night s broadcast focusing on news stories that are trending on social media pop culture and entertainment related stories and viral videos Another feature introduced during Sawyer s tenure was Made in America a feature segment reported by David Muir chronicling enterprising American companies On June 25 2014 ABC News announced that Sawyer would step down as the weekday anchor of ABC World News Sawyer would be succeeded by the program s then weekend anchor David Muir effective September 2 25 26 On July 28 2014 the program debuted a slightly updated set which includes a new larger monitor behind the anchor desk Diane Sawyer ultimately decided to end her tenure as anchor of ABC World News nearly a week before Muir began as anchor of the weeknight editions on August 27 2014 to spend time with family 27 By the time Sawyer left World News the program was the No 1 network evening newscast in all major key demographics and significantly closed the ratings gap with NBC Nightly News in total viewership 28 World News Tonight second era Edit David Muir 2014 present Edit Muir interviewing President Donald Trump in 2020 David Muir became the weekday anchor and managing editor of the program on September 1 2014 while retaining his duties as co anchor of 20 20 3 At the same time Good Morning America co host George Stephanopoulos assumed the news division s Chief Anchor position that had traditionally been assigned to the anchor of World News 29 Following the departure of Diane Sawyer the title of the program was also silently rebranded back to World News Tonight for the first time since 2006 albeit with ABC attached to the title 14 Primary substitutes are Stephanopoulos Rebecca Jarvis and Amy Robach World News Tonight has broadcast from San Bernardino Orlando Paris and Brussels after terrorist attacks and from Dallas after five policemen were shot dead in July 2016 30 In November 2016 World News Tonight was the most watched network primetime newscast for the first time in 18 years The last time World News held the top spot was during the 1998 99 season when Peter Jennings sat at the anchor s desk according to Nielsen 31 World News Tonight was the most watched network evening newscast for the week of March 30 2015 This marked the first time in seven years that the program finished at No 1 beating out NBC Nightly News in all categories 32 On August 10 2020 World News Tonight marked 11 consecutive weeks as America s Most Watched Show 33 On September 8 2020 World News Tonight debuted a new title card reintroduced the long time Bob Israel composed opening theme replacing the Hans Zimmer theme and revealed an updated set and new graphics package Anchors EditWeekdays Edit H R Baukhage and Jim Gibbons News and Views August 11 1948 March 30 1951 34 Unknown After the Deadlines April 2 1951 October 3 1952 Bryson Rash Pauline Frederick Gordon Fraser and Leo Cherne All Star News October 6 1952 January 2 1953 primetime news one hour Mondays and Wednesdays half hour other nights ABC network had no evening news broadcast Monday through Friday January 5 1953 October 9 1953 John Daly John Daly and the News October 12 1953 September 12 1958 Don Goddard ABC News September 15 1958 May 8 1959 at 7 15 7 30 Eastern and Pacific Time followed three hours later by John Daly and the News at 10 30 10 45 Eastern and Pacific John Daly John Daly and the News May 11 1959 December 16 1960 Bill Shadel ABC Evening Report December 19 1960 September 22 1961 Bill Lawrence Al Mann and John Cameron Swayze ABC Evening Report September 25 1961 March 23 1962 at 6 or 7 followed four or five hours later by 10 minute ABC News Final with Ron Cochran Ron Cochran ABC Evening Report March 26 1962 January 29 1965 also anchorman for 10 minute news at 11 pm until March 29 1963 followed on the late news by Murphy Martin April 2 1963 January 3 1964 and Bob Young January 6 1964 January 8 1965 35 Peter Jennings Peter Jennings with the News February 1 1965 October 13 1967 program expanded to half hour as ABC News on January 9 1967 Bob Young ABC News October 16 1967 May 24 1968 Frank Reynolds ABC News May 27 1968 May 16 1969 Frank Reynolds and Howard K Smith ABC News May 19 1969 December 4 1970 36 Howard K Smith and Harry Reasoner ABC Evening News December 7 1970 September 5 1975 Harry Reasoner ABC Evening News September 8 1975 October 1 1976 Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters ABC Evening News October 4 1976 July 7 1978 Frank Reynolds Max Robinson and Peter Jennings World News Tonight July 10 1978 April 20 1983 Max Robinson and Peter Jennings World News Tonight April 23 1983 August 8 1983 Peter Jennings World News Tonight with Peter Jennings August 9 1983 April 5 2005 Interim anchors Charles Gibson Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff World News Tonight with Peter Jennings April 6 2005 August 12 2005 World News Tonight August 15 2005 January 2 2006 37 Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas January 3 May 26 2006 Charles Gibson World News with Charles Gibson May 29 2006 December 18 2009 Diane Sawyer ABC World News with Diane Sawyer December 21 2009 August 27 2014 David Muir ABC World News Tonight with David Muir since September 1 2014 Weekends Edit Ted Koppel Saturday edition 1975 1977 Tom Jarriel and Sylvia Chase Saturday edition 1977 1979 Sam Donaldson Sunday edition 1979 1989 Kathleen Sullivan Saturday edition 1985 1987 Barry Serafin Saturday edition 1987 1988 Carole Simpson Saturday edition 1988 1993 Sunday edition 1993 2003 Forrest Sawyer Sunday edition 1989 1993 Aaron Brown Saturday edition 1993 1997 Elizabeth Vargas Saturday edition 1997 2003 Sunday edition 2003 2004 Terry Moran Saturday edition 2004 2005 Bob Woodruff Sunday edition 2004 2005 Jim Avila Saturday edition 2006 2007 Dan Harris Sunday edition 2006 2011 David Muir Saturday edition 2007 2011 weekends 2011 2014 Cecilia Vega Saturday edition 2015 2017 Tom Llamas Sunday edition 2015 2017 weekends 2017 2021 Now at NBC News Whit Johnson Saturday edition 2021 present Linsey Davis Sunday edition 2021 present Weekend newscasts EditABC first attempted an early evening weekend newscast in July 1975 when it debuted a Saturday bulletin that was anchored by Ted Koppel and taken over by Tom Jarriel and Sylvia Chase in 1977 The broadcast however was not carried by many stations and was cancelled in January 1979 Following the Saturday news cancellation and after the flagship weeknight broadcast became World News Tonight the program premiered World News Sunday on January 28 1979 and expanded to a full seven days with the restoration of a Saturday newscast World News Saturday on January 5 1985 years after NBC and CBS had each launched their own weekend evening news programs These editions added the word Tonight to the program title in the mid 1990s further unifying it with the weekday editions and in the mid 2000s their respective names were shortened uniformly to World News Tonight to correspond with those broadcasts However the original names were restored on July 19 2006 concurrent with the retitling of the weekday broadcasts but the opening title sequence displayed the name as World News for both the Saturday and Sunday editions Prior to 1975 the only network newscasts that ABC stations broadcast on weekends were 15 minute late night updates on Saturdays and Sundays known as ABC Weekend News and later ABC News Weekend Report The programs were fed to affiliates at 11 00 pm Eastern 10 00 pm Central and were seen in tandem with the stations own late newscasts although some stations opted to tape delay the network updates until immediately before their regular sign off time rival CBS also offered a 15 minute Sunday night bulletin during the 1970s until 1997 Because of declining affiliate interest in part because of the proliferation of 24 hour cable news channels such as CNN and low viewership ABC discontinued the late night weekend reports in September 1991 In addition starting in 1973 weeknight co anchor Harry Reasoner hosted The Reasoner Report a half hour topical analysis of important stories especially breaking developments in the Watergate scandal in the vein of CBS s 60 Minutes which Reasoner himself co moderated at two different times Affiliates usually carried the program on Saturday evenings in the time slots where the main newscast aired on weeknights The program which had affiliate clearance problems and was thus unsuccessful in terms of ratings ended in 1975 replaced by the network s inaugural Saturday newscast see above Some former anchors of the weekend news broadcasts include Sam Donaldson Sunday edition 1979 1989 Kathleen Sullivan Saturday edition 1985 1987 Barry Serafin Saturday edition 1987 1988 Forrest Sawyer Sunday edition 1989 1993 Carole Simpson Saturday edition 1988 1993 Sunday edition 1993 2003 Elizabeth Vargas Saturday edition 1997 2003 Sunday edition 2003 2004 Jim Avila Saturday edition 2006 2007 Terry Moran Saturday edition 2004 2005 Bob Woodruff Sunday edition 2004 2005 Dan Harris Sunday edition 2006 2011 and David Muir Saturday edition 2007 2011 Saturday and Sunday editions 2011 2014 Muir who had taken over World News Saturday in 2007 took over the Sunday broadcast in 2011 ending the practice of using separate anchors for the Saturday and Sunday editions of the program with ABC renaming both broadcasts as ABC World News with David Muir as a result David Muir anchored the weekend program until he took over the weekday broadcast in September 2014 The program returned to using separate anchors for the weekend broadcasts afterward with Cecilia Vega being named anchor of the Saturday broadcast and Tom Llamas named anchor of the Sunday edition in February 2015 After Vega was named senior White House correspondent Llamas was named sole weekend anchor in January 2017 as the practice of using separate anchors for the Saturday and Sunday editions ended once again Llamas subsequently left in January 2021 to join NBC News In February 2021 Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis were announced as anchors of the weekend edition with Johnson anchoring on Saturday and Davis anchoring on Sunday 38 Some ABC affiliates air the Saturday and Sunday editions of World News Tonight at 6 00 p m Eastern and Pacific Time 5 00 p m Central and Mountain one half hour earlier than the weekday broadcasts The weekend editions of World News Tonight may periodically be abbreviated or preempted outright due to sports telecasts that overrun into its timeslot or occasionally air immediately following the program the latter preemption situation commonly affects stations in the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones this is particularly common during fall as the Saturday broadcast does not air at all from September through mid December due to ABC s college football coverage and during the winter and spring when the Sunday broadcast is sometimes delayed or preempted due to overruns of the network s NBA telecasts International newscasts EditABC News programs including ABC World News Tonight are shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network OSN News in MENA Region In the United Kingdom the program was shown Tuesday through Fridays at 1 30 a m on BBC News a channel that is frequently simulcast by BBC One at this time meaning the program was broadcast on analogue terrestrial television in many parts of that country until the digital transition The newscast was aired on a delay in part because of the need to remove commercial advertisements as the BBC s domestic channels operate as commercial free services via a television license fee replacing them with promotions for different BBC News special programs The program was replaced by Asia Business Report and Sport Today on June 14 2011 but later returned to the channel on August 20 2012 It was also available on the BBC s on demand service BBC iPlayer for 28 days after its domestic broadcast The program was replaced again by Asia Business Report and Sport Today on March 30 2015 39 In Australia WNT were aired every morning at 10 30 am AET on Sky News Australia until it was moved to SBS and SBS Viceland in July 2019 40 In New Zealand WNT is shown at 5 10 p m on Sky News New Zealand In Hong Kong the program was broadcast live on TVB Pearl daily at 07 30 until 08 00 HKT until May 31 2009 when it was replaced by NBC Nightly News In Japan it airs on NHK BS 1 as part of the weekday morning program Catch Sekai no Top News Catch the Global Top News 41 and later on World News 42 and in clip form during the English language educational program Kōryaku ABC News Eigo Strategies ABC News English until its end in March 2021 43 In Belize Great Belize Television carries all editions of World News Tonight each weekday at 8 00 p m and weekends at 7 00 p m References Edit Alyssa Bernstein August 26 2014 Michael Corn Named Senior EP of GMA Almin Karamehmedovic Named EP of World News ABC News Retrieved February 7 2015 Glen Dickson August 25 2008 Exclusive World News Kicks Off HD Expansion at ABC World News with Charles Gibson Nightline to Begin Broadcasting in 720p HD Aug 25 Broadcasting amp Cable Archived from the original on December 2 2008 Retrieved September 24 2009 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link a b Meet David Muir the Man Taking Over ABC s World News Entertainment Tonight August 27 2014 Retrieved August 29 2014 Matusow Barbara 1983 The Evening Stars Boston Houghton Mifflin pp 138 140 41 ISBN 0 395 33968 5 A Brief History of Captioned Television National Captioning Institute Archived from the original on April 9 2012 Retrieved April 28 2011 The ABC News was rebroadcast on PBS five hours after its broadcast on ABC TV From the time The Captioned ABC News was first produced in 1973 it was the only timely newscast accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people until NCI s real time captioning service started in 1982 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Gary Edgerton 2010 The Columbia History of American Television Columbia University Press p 292 ISBN 978 0 231 51218 3 When would Diane take over WNT TVNewser March 9 2006 Archived from the original on June 17 2009 Retrieved April 28 2011 Charlie Gibson WNTS Temporary Permanent Replacement TVNewser March 13 2006 Archived from the original on January 18 2010 Retrieved April 28 2011 Charles Gibson Named Sole Anchor of World News Tonight Elizabeth Vargas to Step Down to Take Maternity Leave and Return to Co Anchor 20 20 and Anchor ABC News Specials in the Fall ABC News November 19 2002 Archived from the original on March 6 2009 Retrieved September 24 2009 Gibson Takes Over World News Tonight Zap2it May 26 2006 Archived from the original on February 8 2015 Retrieved September 24 2009 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Joe Garofoli May 24 2006 ABC News Turns to Morning Host to Take on Couric San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved September 24 2009 Charles Gibson Your Trusted Source TVNewser May 29 2006 Archived from the original on June 17 2009 Retrieved April 28 2011 ABC s Flagship Newscast Changes Name to World News With Charles Gibson New Name Reflects Program s Place in the 24 Hour Digital Space ABC News July 19 2006 Retrieved September 24 2009 a b ABC Brings Tonight Back to World News TVNewser August 29 2014 Retrieved August 29 2014 Evening News Ratings Williams Tops Gibson In November Sweeps The New York Times December 4 2007 A Matrix of News Winners Buoys NBC The New York Times March 8 2009 Dickson Glen August 25 2008 EXCLUSIVE World News Kicks Off HD Expansion at ABC Broadcasting amp Cable Retrieved April 26 2020 Brian Stelter Bill Carter December 1 2009 ABC Plans Low Key Handoff for World News The New York Times Archived from the original on December 4 2009 Retrieved December 30 2009 Charles Gibson last broadcast YouTube Retrieved February 3 2010 Chris Ariens December 22 2009 A Much Cleaner Job for Mike Rowe The Voice of World News with Diane Sawyer Politico Retrieved December 22 2009 ABC Unveils New World News Set TVNewser August 23 2010 Archived from the original on October 30 2014 Retrieved April 28 2011 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Mike Allen October 18 2009 George Stephanopoulos Role Grows at ABC Politico Retrieved December 30 2009 Julie Moos October 18 2011 Tyndall ABC spends half its evening newscast on soft news Poynter Archived from the original on September 27 2013 Retrieved October 7 2013 David Bauder October 17 2011 New life in television s evening news Yahoo News Retrieved October 7 2013 Diane Sawyer to Step Down as World News Anchor ABC News June 25 2014 Retrieved August 5 2014 Diane Sawyer stepping down from ABC s World News USA Today June 25 2014 Diane Sawyer August 27 2014 See you tonight for my last night anchoring ABCWorldNews great adventures ahead Twitter World News Wins Among Adults 25 54 and Adults 18 49 with Largest Margins Since 2007 ABC News September 2014 Gary Levin June 25 2014 ABC News changes mark a big turning point USA Today ISSN 0734 7456 Retrieved June 26 2014 ABC s World News Tonight anchor David Muir reflects on two years behind the desk Los Angeles Times September 5 2016 ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved April 25 2017 World News Tonight Is No 1 for First Time in 18 years Entertainment Weekly November 30 2016 Retrieved April 25 2017 ABC World News Tonight is No 1 For First Time in 7 years adweek com Retrieved July 1 2015 Week of Aug 10 Evening News Ratings World News Tonight Marks 11 Consecutive Weeks as America s Most Watched Show adweek it Retrieved August 19 2020 Shedden David April 4 2006 updated September 8 2011 Early TV Anchors Archived December 22 2015 at the Wayback Machine Poynter Institute Retrieved January 1 2013 Miscellaneous Notes The New York Times January 3 1964 p 49 Retrieved October 26 2018 Auster Albert undated Smith Howard K Archived August 5 2012 at the Wayback Machine Museum of Broadcast Communications Retrieved January 1 2012 ABC Names Anchors of World News Tonight The New York Times December 5 2005 Retrieved February 28 2019 Ted Johnson February 1 2021 Linsey Davis Whit Johnson To Anchor Weekend World News Tonight Deadline Retrieved February 1 2021 BBC News Channel ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Knox David July 1 2019 SBS secures news content from ABC USA TV Tonight Retrieved July 31 2019 キャッチ 世界のトップニュース Catch Sekai no Top News NHK Retrieved September 7 2022 ワールドニュース World News Retrieved September 7 2022 攻略 ABCニュース英語 Kōryaku ABC News Eigo NHK Retrieved September 7 2022 External links EditOfficial website ABC World News Tonight at IMDb includes production details on World News Tonight and World News ABC News themes Wikimedia Commons 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