ABC World News Tonight

[fox2 190]

'ABC News' in Australia has more of an emphasis on international events and hard news - as a public broadcaster, its newscasts are not primarily ratings-driven, unlike its commercial counterparts. ABC has foreign bureaux in Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Moscow, New Delhi, Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Tokyo and Washington.

 

Here are excerpts from local 7:00PM newscasts in Sydney and Melbourne:

 

 

[fox2 190]

In addition, ABC Australia has a 24-hour news channel called 'ABC News 24':

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmkkVoSSPI

[BehindNYNews 143]

WNT is not using the "Next Up" graphics during the first commercial break tonight. Looks like it was only last night, it's back tonight.

[BehindNYNews 143]

WNT has removed the "ABC News" bumper at the very beginning of the broadcast. They are starting with a very serious cut of music that switches to the normal headline theme. They need to fix the transition from the serious to normal headline theme but once that's done, it'll be good.

[wabceyewitness 767]

The serious cut sounds almost like an update of the old headlines bumber they used when Peter Jennings was anchor.

 

They should just use one cut or the other, it sounds awful the way it's set up now. And bring back the ABC News signature - it was the only hint of ABC News in the show's music.

[dpb 35]

The serious cut is actually a cut of the Hans Zimmer package.

[BehindNYNews 143]

I know its been over 4 months since David Muir has taken over WNT, but I was thinking and found something interesting. When Diane was anchor, we would often see George file reports on WNT, often on politics. Now obviously a lot has changed from Diane to David, George now Chief Anchor and David now anchor of WNT. But except for election night and maybe the night before it, I don't think we've seen George on WNT at all. I just find this interesting. I can understand, with all his titles not filling in for David like he did sometimes for Diane, but we don't see him at all on WNT. I would think that maybe they would want him on every once in a while to almost advertise GMA or This Week but not even. I wonder, if David is off and there is huge news, do they have Amy or Tom fill in or do they choose George. I guess as we have had to do for 4 months, we will have to wait for it to happen to know. Nothing of what I just said is new news, I guess I just find it interesting and wanted to share my thoughts.

 

If I had to guess, we will probably see George show up on WNT a little as the Election 2016 approaches but not for a while.

 

In terms of the set up between George and David, 4 months in, I have to say, I like what they are doing. I just hope they announce the anchor(s) of WNT Weekend soon.

 

 

The serious cut is actually a cut of the Hans Zimmer package.

 

I like the serous cut, it brings a more serious feel to the broadcast. But as wabceyewitness said, they should choose one cut or the other, the transition does not work.

[TVNewsLover 727]

I just hope they announce the anchor(s) of WNT Weekend soon.

 

I have a feeling they are going to continue rotating/testing people for a while, and may end up going with two different people, one for each day, although I think it's better if they go with one.

[TVNewsLover 727]

It seems that the past few weekends have been Cecelia on Saturdays and Tom on Sundays.

[BehindNYNews 143]

Looks like they are going with the serious cut for the entire headline now. The only problem now is that the serious cue doesn't transition well to the open.

 

Also, WNT did 16 minutes of non-stop news tonight. I feel like this keeps getting longer and longer. Could be ABC trying to lure/impress viewers.

[24994J 5269]

I will say, while not ideal, the cut-off from serious cue to open is still far smoother than the transition from anchor intro to headlines from the last few weeks.

[BehindNYNews 143]

 

I will say, while not ideal, the cut-off from serious cue to open is still far smoother than the transition from anchor intro to headlines from the last few weeks.

 

They used the long open tonight :awesome: .

[TVNewsLover 727]

I know its been over 4 months since David Muir has taken over WNT, but I was thinking and found something interesting. When Diane was anchor, we would often see George file reports on WNT, often on politics. Now obviously a lot has changed from Diane to David, George now Chief Anchor and David now anchor of WNT. But except for election night and maybe the night before it, I don't think we've seen George on WNT at all. I just find this interesting. I can understand, with all his titles not filling in for David like he did sometimes for Diane, but we don't see him at all on WNT. I would think that maybe they would want him on every once in a while to almost advertise GMA or This Week but not even. I wonder, if David is off and there is huge news, do they have Amy or Tom fill in or do they choose George. I guess as we have had to do for 4 months, we will have to wait for it to happen to know. Nothing of what I just said is new news, I guess I just find it interesting and wanted to share my thoughts.

 

If I had to guess, we will probably see George show up on WNT a little as the Election 2016 approaches but not for a while.

 

In terms of the set up between George and David, 4 months in, I have to say, I like what they are doing. I just hope they announce the anchor(s) of WNT Weekend soon.

 

I like the serous cut, it brings a more serious feel to the broadcast. But as wabceyewitness said, they should choose one cut or the other, the transition does not work.

George was on WNT with David.

[BehindNYNews 143]

 

George was on WNT with David.

 

For the second time since David took over, the other time being election night.

[wabceyewitness 767]

Nice to hear the serious cut used for the entire headline... but I agree it still doesn't transition well to the main open.

 

Maybe they will just leave it like that -- just as they did when they began using a cut from the previous election package as the headline bed for WN with Charles Gibson but kept the regular open..... or (and this is fingers-crossed pure speculation) maybe they will phase in a more serious sounding opening cut that has the famous ABC News da-da-duhh-duhhh signature in it....

[BehindNYNews 143]

Very good, in-depth reporting by both David Muir and Brian Williams in Cuba tonight.

[BehindNYNews 143]

Happy to say Diane is back tonight with a report on WNT. https://twitter.com/behindnynews/status/558772506991927296

[jmkcool2002 7]

 

Happy to say Diane is back tonight with a report on WNT. https://twitter.com/behindnynews/status/558772506991927296

 

Yup. She'll also be on Nightline tonight. It's part of a partnership with Nick Kristoff and PBS to promote his new documentary on human trafficking. ABC News' Facebook page posted a clip of the documentary on their site. Nice strategy by PBS (which typically works with CBS through Charlie Rose) and Kristoff to use ABC News to promote their documentary on all fronts.

[jmkcool2002 7]

 

I know its been over 4 months since David Muir has taken over WNT, but I was thinking and found something interesting. When Diane was anchor, we would often see George file reports on WNT, often on politics. Now obviously a lot has changed from Diane to David, George now Chief Anchor and David now anchor of WNT. But except for election night and maybe the night before it, I don't think we've seen George on WNT at all. I just find this interesting. I can understand, with all his titles not filling in for David like he did sometimes for Diane, but we don't see him at all on WNT. I would think that maybe they would want him on every once in a while to almost advertise GMA or This Week but not even. I wonder, if David is off and there is huge news, do they have Amy or Tom fill in or do they choose George. I guess as we have had to do for 4 months, we will have to wait for it to happen to know. Nothing of what I just said is new news, I guess I just find it interesting and wanted to share my thoughts.

 

If I had to guess, we will probably see George show up on WNT a little as the Election 2016 approaches but not for a while.

 

In terms of the set up between George and David, 4 months in, I have to say, I like what they are doing. I just hope they announce the anchor(s) of WNT Weekend soon.

 

I agree. But I think there is definitely an unspoken divide at ABC between George and David. I don't think they hate one another but there's definitely competition. Unless Ginger or Marciano are on WNT or David is appearing the next day or they have a big interview, you never hear GMA promoted on WNT. The same goes for GMA or whenever George anchors a special report. Even when you watch advertisements promoting David and George or watch them interact, it feels like a competition.

 

With that being said, I believe they mutually respect each other and mutually understand each person's place in the network's strategy. But eventually, Muir is going to force ABC's hand. It won't happen until the 2020 or 2024 election but it'll happen because Muir could easily take over as lead anchor at any other station with the exception of Fox if he doesn't get what he wants at ABC. It will leave George with a Sawyer-type of role on ABC or another outlet. But that's a long time down the road.

 

I definitely agree that I love seeing George anchor special reports. He has Jennings' composure, innate intelligence and exudes leadership. I'm sure David is capable of the same but he doesn't have the knowledge George has yet since he hasn't been in the national scene as long. At the same time, Muir has grown into WNT and it is definitely his forte. Muir is actually more stiff than George so he wouldn't fit on GMA whereas in George's case, GMA has brought out another side of him. If it wasn't for BriWi's popularity, Muir would be number 1.

[BehindNYNews 143]

 

I agree. But I think there is definitely an unspoken divide at ABC between George and David. I don't think they hate one another but there's definitely competition. Unless Ginger or Marciano are on WNT or David is appearing the next day or they have a big interview, you never hear GMA promoted on WNT. The same goes for GMA or whenever George anchors a special report. Even when you watch advertisements promoting David and George or watch them interact, it feels like a competition.

 

With that being said, I believe they mutually respect each other and mutually understand each person's place in the network's strategy. But eventually, Muir is going to force ABC's hand. It won't happen until the 2020 or 2024 election but it'll happen because Muir could easily take over as lead anchor at any other station with the exception of Fox if he doesn't get what he wants at ABC. It will leave George with a Sawyer-type of role on ABC or another outlet. But that's a long time down the road.

 

I definitely agree that I love seeing George anchor special reports. He has Jennings' composure, innate intelligence and exudes leadership. I'm sure David is capable of the same but he doesn't have the knowledge George has yet since he hasn't been in the national scene as long. At the same time, Muir has grown into WNT and it is definitely his forte. Muir is actually more stiff than George so he wouldn't fit on GMA whereas in George's case, GMA has brought out another side of him. If it wasn't for BriWi's popularity, Muir would be number 1.

 

I am not going to speculate on what will happen in 5 or 10 years because we simply don't know what will happen by then. So I am just going to ignore the whole middle paragraph.

 

In terms of GMA being promoted on WNT, I'd say David mentions GMA as much as Brian mentions Today and Scott mentions CTM. You don't need to mention it every day, you mention it when there is something worth noting. And on George mentioning WNT during special reports. He ends his special reports nearly the same way every time and WNT is part of it.

 

Also, I don't see how there is much competition between them, George does GMA, This Week and Specials and David does WNT. Unless you're talking about interviews where there could be debate who goes, besides that, I don't see much competition. George does his thing and David does his.

 

And in terms of the stiffness of George vs. David. I don't see David as stiff when he's on GMA. More than George? Yeah, but George does GMA every day. George started out very stiff and got comfortable with time. David would do the same if he was on the program every day.

 

I agree, as you mention, that they likely mutually respect each other. Rather than competition like you mention though, I think they each just do their own thing. Except during special events like SOTU, Elections, etc.... there is very little overlap between them.

 

Overall, I think what they have is working and will continue for years to come.

 

 

With that being said, I believe they mutually respect each other and mutually understand each person's place in the network's strategy.

This sentence is gold. I agree wholeheartedly.

[ns8401 846]

I agree. But I think there is definitely an unspoken divide at ABC between George and David. I don't think they hate one another but there's definitely competition. Unless Ginger or Marciano are on WNT or David is appearing the next day or they have a big interview, you never hear GMA promoted on WNT. The same goes for GMA or whenever George anchors a special report. Even when you watch advertisements promoting David and George or watch them interact, it feels like a competition.

 

With that being said, I believe they mutually respect each other and mutually understand each person's place in the network's strategy. But eventually, Muir is going to force ABC's hand. It won't happen until the 2020 or 2024 election but it'll happen because Muir could easily take over as lead anchor at any other station with the exception of Fox if he doesn't get what he wants at ABC. It will leave George with a Sawyer-type of role on ABC or another outlet. But that's a long time down the road.

 

I definitely agree that I love seeing George anchor special reports. He has Jennings' composure, innate intelligence and exudes leadership. I'm sure David is capable of the same but he doesn't have the knowledge George has yet since he hasn't been in the national scene as long. At the same time, Muir has grown into WNT and it is definitely his forte. Muir is actually more stiff than George so he wouldn't fit on GMA whereas in George's case, GMA has brought out another side of him. If it wasn't for BriWi's popularity, Muir would be number 1.

I don't think it's that uncommon to not see certain things promoted at certain times of the day... Putting them in primetime is probably much more bang for your buck then taking time away from national ads on WNT. Plus in theory the people seeing them are starting to think about tomorrow morning in primetime. At WNT time they just walked in from work.

[jmkcool2002 7]

Check this out. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/25/george-stephanopoulos-wins-abc-s-chief-anchor-crown-where-does-his-promotion-leave-david-muir.html

[24994J 5269]

People aren't satisfied unless there's a controversy. It's only been like 5 months, neither have completely settled into their roles, yet. Could this be an issue down the road? Sure, but there needs to be time for any such frustration to build. Besides, that article was written when the announcement was made. I'm sure all parties had reservations, but things can change.

 

Right now, people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill (good Lord, I sound like my father).

[ns8401 846]

 

Check this out. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/25/george-stephanopoulos-wins-abc-s-chief-anchor-crown-where-does-his-promotion-leave-david-muir.html

 

I read it 6 months ago... the point is that a small spat isn't gonna stop them from running commercials promoting other shows in the division if they wish to. If it did then the wheels would quickly fall off ABC News.

[BehindNYNews 143]

 

Check this out. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/25/george-stephanopoulos-wins-abc-s-chief-anchor-crown-where-does-his-promotion-leave-david-muir.html

 

Oh please. Like mentioned already, that is people trying to make a problem out of nothing.