Koppel Exits: Boldface Names At ABC’s Farewell Party

Past and present Nightliners gathered for a farewell to Ted Koppel on Wednesday evening. I couldn’t make it to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., but B&C’s John Eggerton could, and he filed this report.

“Greeted by thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd, which included longtime staffers bussed over from the ABC bureau as well as returning alumni who had flown in from other climes, Koppel said that many of them had been ‘dreading this event,’ but proclaimed it a lovely evening.”

Attendees included current EP Tom Bettag and former producers Leroy Sievers, Bill Lord, Rick Kaplan; ABCers David Westin, George Stephanopoulos, Barbara Walters, Sam Donaldson, John Donvan, Chris Bury, John Cochran, James Goldston, and Cynthia McFadden; TV vets Bob Schieffer, Dan Rather, and Jeff Greenfield; and Peter Jennings’ wife Kayce Freed. More…

> Update: 2:11am: THR adds some names to the list: Tim Russert, Charlie Gibson, Ben Bradlee, Gwen Ifill, Bob Woodruff…