Thursday, March 31, 2005
Ted Koppel Stepping Aside
Ted Koppel is leaving ABC News when his contract expires at the end of this year. Koppel, who is synonymous with the program Nightline, has won every award in his profession.
All of us of a certain age remember Nightline's birth as a daily update on our hostages held in Iran. I have other distinct memories from Koppel's tenure at Nightline.
I only saw Koppel lose control of his broadcast one time, and that was when the freak show known as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were on Nightline during the demise of the PTL Club. They took over the show, and Ted sat silent, looking stunned.
I also remember watching Nightline as Hurricane Hugo made landfall at Charleston, SC. When the broadcast ended that night, the projected path of the storm was directly at Greensboro. We missed the worst of that storm, as it pushed further inland and to our west.
I am rarely awake late enough to see Nightline, but I will miss seeing Ted Koppel on the show during those evenings when I do watch the show.
All of us of a certain age remember Nightline's birth as a daily update on our hostages held in Iran. I have other distinct memories from Koppel's tenure at Nightline.
I only saw Koppel lose control of his broadcast one time, and that was when the freak show known as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were on Nightline during the demise of the PTL Club. They took over the show, and Ted sat silent, looking stunned.
I also remember watching Nightline as Hurricane Hugo made landfall at Charleston, SC. When the broadcast ended that night, the projected path of the storm was directly at Greensboro. We missed the worst of that storm, as it pushed further inland and to our west.
I am rarely awake late enough to see Nightline, but I will miss seeing Ted Koppel on the show during those evenings when I do watch the show.
