As It Marks 38 Years on the Air, Nightline Gets Its First Female Announcer

By Chris Ariens 

Randy Thomas, whose voice you’ve probably heard on TV commercials, network promos or other voice over narration, is the new voice of Nightline.

Thomas is the first female announcer in Nightline’s 38-year history. The late night ABC News show launched March 24, 1980, with Ted Koppel as host. The predecessor show, The Iran Crisis-America Held Hostage began on Nov. 8, 1979, airing just after the late local news. In 2013, Nightline moved an hour later to accommodate Jimmy Kimmel Live airing in the 11:35 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.

The show, now hosted by Dan Harris, Juju Chang and Byron Pitts, and executive produced by Steven Baker, also debuted new images for the open and rejoins, and a new sound is being developed for the opening signature as well as short harmonic and melodic hooks throughout.

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Nightline was the most-watched show in its timeslot last week, topping NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and CBS’s Late, Late Show with James Corden. Season to date, Nightline is beating Corden in the younger demos: A25-54 (+22,000 – 521,000 vs. 499,000) and A18-49 (+25,000 – 395,000 vs. 370,000). The two shows are tied in Total Viewers (1.421 million). Meyers remains No. 1 in the 12:35 p.m. ET/PT slot, season to date.

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