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Asked a few months ago about the challenge of keeping ABC the top-ranked network in TV news, Roone Arledge reached for an example from his old days in sports. "One of my heroes was Casey Stengel," he said. "He used to rebuild while still winning pennants...
...ABC News has won a lot of pennants in its day, but for the first time in many years, some rebuilding may be in order. Yet Arledge, after nearly 20 years as news-division president, may not be on the field to guide the team to a comeback. Last week ABC announced that Arledge, 65, will ascend to the newly created post of chairman of the news division. Replacing him as president--and eventual successor--is David Westin, 44, currently president of the television-network group, but a man with no news experience. (Westin will report to Arledge--who previously...
Arledge insists the move does not mean he is yielding the reins at ABC News. "I am not stepping down," he told TIME. "I am not changing my duties at all. David Westin is joining us as a bridge to the future." But for close readers of network tea leaves, the move had more resonance than a mere juggling of titles. By giving up the job he has held since 1977, Arledge is acknowledging that retirement is in sight and that the Arledge era is nearing an end. And by laying the groundwork for his succession, ABC bosses are taking...
...ABC News has hit troubles on several fronts. After eight years of ratings dominance, Peter Jennings' evening newscast, World News Tonight, has been overtaken in recent weeks by the snazzier, more cleverly packaged NBC Nightly News. Creatively too, ABC's flagship newscast seems adrift, first softening the show to combat NBC, more recently retrenching a bit and trying to reassert its hard-news credentials. Good Morning America, the No. 1-rated morning show for much of the '90s, has slipped into second place, well behind NBC's Today show. Of course the network still has the indispensable Nightline, which frequently...
...course, what Hall really hopes for is another hit. ABC, which is paying an astounding $900,000 an episode for the series, a large chunk of which is going to its star, clearly hopes for one also. And despite the show's weaknesses, Arsenio may pull it off. His fans seem to number many. Over dinner at Los Angeles' stylish Mondrian hotel last month, he was barraged by passersby expressing their enthusiasm about his return. "We can't wait for you, man," said one. Arsenio returned a beaming thank you. It is hard to imagine that after The Arsenio Hall...