ABC Announces Inauguration Plans

By SteveK 

ABC News has released its plans for the Presidential Inauguration, and they are promising “more coverage…than any other broadcast network.” Coverage begins at 7amET.

Some notes:

• Good Morning America will air for three hours, followed at 10amET with “Inauguration 2009” anchored by Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, who will broadcast from the Newseum.

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• ABC airs the first-ever “Neighborhood Inaugural Ball” from 8-10pmET, live from the Washington Convention Center.

• Gibson, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos anchor the ABC News special, “A Moment in History” at 10pmET, which looks live as the President and First Lady continue the celebration at a variety of events.

Click continued to see the ABC release…


On Tuesday, January 20th the ABC Television Network will provide more coverage of the Presidential Inauguration than any other broadcast network

ABC News live coverage will begin at 7am ET/4AM PT with a special three-hour edition of “Good Morning America” anchored by Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

At 10am ET/7am PT Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor coverage of Barack Obama’s Inauguration. Broadcast from the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, coverage will include all events from the swearing-in ceremony and Obama’s Inaugural Address to the Inaugural Parade, as well reaction from around the nation and the world to this historic event.

Gibson, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos will be joined by a team of ABC News anchors, correspondents and analysts including:

Robin Roberts, Deborah Roberts and Bill Weir reporting from the Washington Mall
Chris Cuomo, David Muir and Kate Snow reporting along the Parade Route
Jake Tapper reporting on the Obama Presidency and his first day
Jonathan Karl reporting on the new Congress
Pierre Thomas reporting on the day’s security operations, including the challenges the expected crowd poses on law enforcement
Martha Raddatz on the foreign policy challenges facing the new administration and the legacy of President George W. Bush
Ron Claiborne reporting from Obama’s ancestral home in Kenya
ABC News Commentators Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Cokie Roberts and George Will
Historians Richard Norton Smith and Carl Sferazza Anthony
Obama biographer David Mendell

At 8:00 p.m., ET President-elect Barack Obama will host the first-ever “Neighborhood Inaugural Ball,” the premiere event of inauguration evening. To help bring this unique event to neighborhoods across the nation, ABC will broadcast “The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration,” giving everyone an exclusive look inside this historic event that will include the President and First Lady’s first dance of the night, President-elect Obama’s initial speech of the evening, and performances and appearances by some of the nation’s top recording artists and stars. The event will air live from the Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

At 10 p.m., ET Gibson, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos will anchor the ABC News Special “A Moment in History: The Inauguration of Barack Obama.” This news program will take the audience live to Inaugural Balls and track the President and First Lady as they continue their celebration throughout Washington. Also, a team of ABC News correspondents will report on the special significance the day holds for millions of African-Americans; the amazing lengths many Americans are going to just to be in Washington for the Inauguration; and world reaction to Barack Obama’s promised effort to unite the nation.

ABC News will also provide live coverage of many of the President-elect’s events on Saturday, Sunday and Monday beginning with his train trip from Philadelphia.

As part of the network’s Inauguration coverage, Mr. Gibson will anchor “World News” from Washington, DC beginning Saturday, January 17th. “Good Morning America” will originate from Washington on Monday the 19th and Kate Snow and Bill Weir will anchor the Weekend edition from there on Sunday the 18th. Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran will anchor “Nightline” from Washington on Monday and Tuesday.

ABC News NOW’s live coverage of Inauguration Day will be co-anchored by Sam Donaldson and Rick Klein, Senior Political Reporter and Author of “The Note,” beginning at 9AM EST and continuing until 11PM EST. The coverage will be live streamed on ABCNEWS.com. From 11:30AM EST to approx 1:30PM EST, ABCNEWS.com will, for the first time, offer live streaming coverage of President-elect Barack Obama’s oath of office and inaugural address embedded directly on the Homepage.

ABCNEWS.com will have special indexes which will highlight stories from ABC News’ top political reporters as well as videos and slideshows. The featured indexes will include the new 44th president as well as the legacy of the Bush administration. The indexes will include transcripts and video of various past presidential speeches and inaugurations, slideshows of Inaugural Balls and the festivities as well as a timeline of events on Inauguration Day.

ABC News Radio will provide live anchored coverage of the Inauguration Ceremony. Aaron Katersky will anchor coverage and will be joined by Ann Compton, Vic Ratner, Steven Portnoy, Pam Coulter and ABC News Radio Political Analyst Steve Roberts. ABC News Radio will also broadcast a one hour inaugural highlight show at 7:06pm ET hosted by Aaron Katersky.

On Monday, January 19 ABC News Radio will provide a two hour pre-inaugural special at 8:06pm ET anchored by Aaron Katersky, along with Ann Compton, Vic Ratner, Steven Portnoy, Pam Coulter and ABC News Radio Political Analyst Steve Roberts.

NewsOne, the news feed service of ABC News, will have live reports from Washington with ABC News correspondents Viviana Hurtado, Christianne Klein, and T.J. Winick. NewsOne will also be providing production facilities in Washington for ABC stations and many international broadcasters, including BBC, NHK Japan, CTV Canada, and Univision.

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