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Jolie Rouge
03-31-2005, 09:07 AM
By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - Ted Koppel, who has anchored ABC News' ``Nightline'' since its inception a quarter-century ago, said Thursday he will leave the network when his contract expires at the end of the year.

His departure comes at a time of questions about the future of his late-night news program, which has been declining in the ratings and was threatened three years ago when ABC tried to lure David Letterman from CBS. ``Ted and I have discussed a number of options under which he might have remained at `Nightline' or in some other capacity at ABC News, but Ted believes this is the right time for him to leave,'' ABC News President David Westin said.

Westin said he was optimistic that ``Nightline'' would continue with an orderly transition. Ultimately, ABC and parent Walt Disney Corp. executives will decide whether the network sticks with news in that time slot.


``Nightline'' began as a series of special reports during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980, and was groundbreaking in its early years for how Koppel conducted live interviews with several subjects - a standard in television now but then a product of new technology.



03/31/05 11:38

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