2006: At ABC News, Steadying The Ship

By Brian 

> Dec. 19: Almost a year after being injured in Iraq, Woodruff “looks and sounds great”

> Dec. 12: Gibson edges close to Williams, especially in the demo

> Dec. 1: This Week’s first sweeps win over Face the Nation in five years

> Nov. 30: Primetime gets a five-episode run

> Nov. 28: One-year anniversary of the new Nightline

> Nov. 15: Dan Harris is the official anchor of WN Sunday; other promotions

> Nov. 9: World News This Morning becomes America This Morning; Nancy Han becomes AM news EP

> Nov. 7: With ‘Dancing’ as its lead-in, ABC’s election coverage is #1

> Nov. 6: Vargas is back full-time on 20/20

> Nov. 1: Diane Masciale leaves NBC to become executive editor for special coverage

> Oct. 20: Despite the Couric competition, World News is “thriving”

> Oct. 19: Woodruffs are writing a memoir; primetime special to air in Spring 2007

> Oct. 17: Sawyer reports from North Korea

> Oct. 1: ABC reporting leads to Mark Foley‘s resignation; Brian Ross gets the credit

> Sep. 10: What will Diane do? She says she doesn’t know; later, B&C says her eyes are “fixed on the exit door”

> Aug. 22: Sam Champion is named GMA’s weather anchor

> Aug. 22: Chris Sheridan becomes weekend news EP

> Aug. 21: Chris Cuomo‘s campaign pays off: He is named news anchor of GMA

> Aug. 21: Rejected by an employment tribunal: Richard Gizbert doesn’t get any money from ABC

> Aug. 16: Vargas gives birth to Samuel Wyatt Cohn

> Aug. 10: Virginia Moseley becomes senior political editor

> Aug. 10: ABC News All Media unit forms

> Aug. 7: Remembering Peter, one year later

> Aug. 3: Nightline’s audience is getting younger; later, the show beats Letterman three weeks in a row; it’s called a “ratings resurgence”

> Jul. 26: Jim Murphy will become senior EP and Tom Cibrowski will become EP of GMA

> Jul. 19: Nightline stops using Times Square studio

> Jul. 19: World News drops the Tonight

> Jul. 11: Jeffrey Schneider gets promoted to senior VP of communications

> Jul. 7: The Russian government closes ABC’s operations in Moscow

> Jul. 2: “I’ll do everything in my power” to anchor a nightly newscast again, Vargas pledges

> Jun. 28: “We’re glad you’re finally ours,” WNT EP Jon Banner tells Gibson


> Jun. 28: “And so this wonderful 19-year experience of a lifetime comes to an end:” Gibson says goodbye to his GMA family

> Jun. 13: Woodruff visits ABC News

> Jun. 2: GMA EP Ben Sherwood resigns; the posturing begins

> May 30: Gibson signs on; ABC markets him as “your trusted source”

> May 26: Vargas signs off

> May 23: Did Diane want the chair? What will she do now? Later, B&C suggests CNN; she says she wants to do “more serious journalism in primetime”

> May 23: Sources say Vargas “struggled” to keep her job; but ABC swears it was her choice; on WNT, she gives a concession speech

> May 23:Charles Gibson has been named anchor of World News Tonight;” ABC doesn’t replace Gibson on GMA

> May 18: Sawyer hires lawyer Allen Grubman

> May 16: 20/20 is renewed; Primetime gets a full pickup but not a timeslot; it’ll be “used to fill holes” in the fall

> May 15: “The government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources,” ABC’s investigative unit says

> May 15: Jan Crawford Greenburg joins ABC; later, she interviews John Roberts

> May 8: Sawyer plans to stay on GMA through 2007


> May 8: George Stephanopoulos gets good press; and later, more and more and more

> May 3: Shelley Ross‘ final stunt; she departs ABC in Dec.

> Apr. 24: At NAB/RTNDA, remembering Peter

> Apr. 6: ABC releases the first photograph of Woodruff

> Mar. 23: Drudge publishes old “Bush makes me sick” e-mail by GMA Weekend EP John Green; he expresses regret; later, he is suspended for one month

> Mar. 16: Woodruff heads home

> Mar. 15: The Western Edition doesn’t last long

> Mar. 13: Forget Sawyer; Charles Gibson will be WNT’s “temporary permanent replacement,” sources say

> Mar. 8: Rumor has it that Diane’s taking the WNT chair

> Feb. 24: Post-Koppel Nightline is up in the demo

> Feb. 23: Vogt heads home to France; Woodruff still “mildly sedated”

> Feb. 21: W. 66th St. becomes Peter Jennings Way

> Feb. 10: Vargas is pregnant; later, “it’s a boy”

> Feb. 8: Vogt moves to outpatient facility; Woodruff still sedated

> Feb. 5: Westin: “I don’t know how long Bob is going to be recuperating”

> Feb. 3: ABC airs video of the roadside bombing

> Feb. 1: Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson will sub for Woodruff on WNT

> Jan. 29: Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt seriously injured by roadside bomb in Iraq; archive of TVNewser coverage

> Jan. 21: David Westin says ABC is trying to “break the mold” with the new WNT

> Jan. 11: Woodruff says Western Edition is a “recipe for burnout”

> Jan. 6: WNT tries a ‘Western Edition’ for the left coast; “publicity stunt?”

> Jan. 4: Veteran ABCer Ted Koppel joins Discovery

> Jan. 4: On their second night, Woodruff is in Iran and Vargas is in West Virginia

> Jan. 3: Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas start co-anchoring World News Tonight

> Jan. 3: The World News Now webcast premieres on ABCNews.com; called a “strong entry”

> Jan. 2: Linda Douglass leaves ABC; Liz Marlantes replaces her
> Jan. 2: ABC’s Bob Woodruff visits Iran

Advertisement

Advertisement