ABC Appoints Stephanopoulos to ‘This Week’
NEW YORK (AP) -- ABC on Tuesday appointed George Stephanopoulos to anchor "This Week," and the for-mer Clinton aide urged those who question his objectivity to watch him with an open mind on Sunday morn-ings. The network also named a new chief executive for the public affairs program, which dominated Sunday mornings a decade ago but now struggles in the long shadow of NBC's Tim Russert. Stephanopoulos, already a panelist on the program, will replace Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts shortly after Labor Day. Roberts announced earlier this spring that she was quitting, after media reports circulated that Stephanopoulos was in line for the job. Donaldson will report for ABC's "Nightline" and the network's newsmagazines. So far this sea-son, "Meet the Press" averages 4.7 million viewers each week, or 46% more than "This Week's" 3.2 million. CBS' "Face the Nation," with a little more than 3 million viewers, occasionally beats ABC for second place. Stephanopoulos, since being hired at ABC News in 1996, has tried a variety of commentator, anchor and re-porting roles before settling into covering the political world he knows well. "I think I've shown in my work and will continue to show that I'm a tough but fair interviewer," Stephanopoulos said. "I'm not going to bring any bias to the table. I'm going to do what I can to make sure that people have the full picture. It remains to be seen whether Stephanopoulos' background will handicap ABC's ability to get top GOP interview guests in a TV format where the networks compete heatedly. A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said he's willing to give Stephanopoulos a chance. "We look forward to working with him," said Kevin Sheridan. "Obvi-ously, everyone knows his past. He's a true liberal and doesn't hide the fact. We're hoping he grows into the role of prime-time journalist." Jon Banner, a veteran ABC producer, replaces Virginia Moseley as the "This Week" executive producer. He and Stephanopoulos will spend the summer tinkering with the show's format. The "This Week" roundtable, where four correspondents swap opinions, will remain. So will conservative commentator George Will, who joins Stephanopoulos as half of the roundtable. ABC will name one more per-manent member and the fourth slot will rotate from week to week
NEW YORK (AP) -- ABC on Tuesday appointed George Stephanopoulos to anchor "This Week," and the for-mer Clinton aide urged those who question his objectivity to watch him with an open mind on Sunday morn-ings. The network also named a new chief executive for the public affairs program, which dominated Sunday mornings a decade ago but now struggles in the long shadow of NBC's Tim Russert. Stephanopoulos, already a panelist on the program, will replace Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts shortly after Labor Day. Roberts announced earlier this spring that she was quitting, after media reports circulated that Stephanopoulos was in line for the job. Donaldson will report for ABC's "Nightline" and the network's newsmagazines. So far this sea-son, "Meet the Press" averages 4.7 million viewers each week, or 46% more than "This Week's" 3.2 million. CBS' "Face the Nation," with a little more than 3 million viewers, occasionally beats ABC for second place. Stephanopoulos, since being hired at ABC News in 1996, has tried a variety of commentator, anchor and re-porting roles before settling into covering the political world he knows well. "I think I've shown in my work and will continue to show that I'm a tough but fair interviewer," Stephanopoulos said. "I'm not going to bring any bias to the table. I'm going to do what I can to make sure that people have the full picture. It remains to be seen whether Stephanopoulos' background will handicap ABC's ability to get top GOP interview guests in a TV format where the networks compete heatedly. A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said he's willing to give Stephanopoulos a chance. "We look forward to working with him," said Kevin Sheridan. "Obvi-ously, everyone knows his past. He's a true liberal and doesn't hide the fact. We're hoping he grows into the role of prime-time journalist." Jon Banner, a veteran ABC producer, replaces Virginia Moseley as the "This Week" executive producer. He and Stephanopoulos will spend the summer tinkering with the show's format. The "This Week" roundtable, where four correspondents swap opinions, will remain. So will conservative commentator George Will, who joins Stephanopoulos as half of the roundtable. ABC will name one more per-manent member and the fourth slot will rotate from week to week