New Nightline: David Westin Speaks

ABC News prez David Westin talks to the AP’s David Bauder about tonight’s premiere:

> On the post-Koppel changes: “Most programs, if they stay around for a long time, take on a structure imparted by the anchors. So when you change the personality, you have to make changes in the program. Ted is a very strong example of that, but he’s not unique.”

> On the old format that focused on a single story every night: You have two choices — either you ignore them altogether, or you stretch. If you go away from the ironclad commitment to the single topic, it gives you more flexibility to cover the stories that you think really matter to people.”

> On his emphasis on being live at 11:35pm: “I certainly wanted to make sure we were totally responsive to being on the news, and that’s hard to do when you’ve taped the program at 6 (o’clock) in the evening and people have largely gone home.”

> On concerns that “the clock is ticking:” “I’ve been getting no pressure in that regard. The only pressure for us is putting on a really good program and succeeding. If we do that, we’re fine. If we don’t do that, we shouldn’t be fine.”