The Disney Upfront was held Thursday afternoon in New York—and World News Tonight anchor David Muir represented the ABC News division on-stage. The news anchor appeared right after the trailer for Hulu’s new series The Chippendales was shown, and Muir noted the irony.
“I was asking myself backstage: ‘How do you follow The Kardashians and The Chippendales?’ They said, ‘Just send out the news guy,” Muir quipped.
He then got more serious when discussing ABC News reporting, first thanking the teams who have been on the ground in Ukraine “for months now”—and noting the tragedy in Buffalo, where he was yesterday covering the aftermath of the massacre.
“It’s these stories that remind us everyday of the stakes, the power of delivering the facts, to be the place that’s really breaking through the noise,” said Muir. “It’s not just delivering the news. As you all know, it’s how we tell these stories: With extraordinary care through the eyes of those who are living it, who are surviving it. You simply have to care about people as a reporter out there and I always say: ‘The viewers always know,’ and as our boss [ABC News president Kim Godwin] likes to say: We are one ABC News.”
Muir then threw to a sizzle reel, which touts “going to the story,” “getting the interviews first,” and the network’s ratings achievements, including GMA as the most-watched morning show, This Week with George Stephanopoulos as No. 1 among adults 25-54, 20/20 No. 1 on Friday nights, Nightline as “Emmy-nominated and most-trusted,” ABC News Live streaming, No. 1 in local news and World News Tonight as the most-watched national newscast.
After the sizzle reel, Muir noted his reporting from Southern Madagascar on how climate change is drastically affecting the lives of people in the country, especially young children. The segment, heavily promoted by ABC News, aired across ABC News programming last November. The World Food Programme has raised roughly $4 million following Muir’s piece.
“I’m here to say: We keep at it, from GMA, to World News Tonight, Nightline, 20/20, This Week, ABC News Live, digital, radio, audio and—of course—the rock solid foundation for it all: our incredible local news all across this country.”
Muir ended his segment by noting the presentation was running late (it was roughly 5 p.m. ET when he spoke)—and he was trying to figure out the best way to get from the Upfront venue in Lower East Side of Manhattan back to ABC News HQ on the Upper West Side for his 6:30 p.m. newscast.
“I have 45 minutes to get uptown to do the headlines tonight. So, here’s the question: ‘Do I hop in the ca, or do I take the F train, to the B train, to the 1 train?’ This is gonna be a gamble, let’s see if we make it for the news.”