ABC’s upcoming primetime editions of “Nightline” will no longer feature the “Nightline” name. They will instead be called “ABC’s The Lookout,” a reference to their consumer-centric focus. The programs had originally been titled “Nightline: Two Truths and a Lie.”

The primetime “Nightline” shows were a make-good on the part of ABC after it pushed the late night show from 11:35 PM to 12:35 AM. As we reported at the time, ABC promised the show a full season commitment. For now, the show has a relatively safe slot on the lineup through the Summer, although had it debuted in March as originally planned, it would have had roughly the equivalent of a full season’s worth of episodes. The show’s future beyond Summer is unclear.

“Like any show on the network, our success on the air will determine the future,” an ABC News spokesperson says.

While it will not have the “Nightline” name, it will be produced by the staff of the late-night news program.

“Nightline” has had a rougher time at 12:35 than it did at 11:35, although much of it was expected. It now has fewer than half as many viewers as it did when it was on an hour earlier, although ABC is quick to point out that it often (though not always) does better than the second half of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” did in that timeslot. It also used to regularly topped CBS NBC and CBS in total and demo viewers. Now, such a clear ratings win is a relative rarity.

ABC “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts is writing a memoir, to be published by Grand Central Publishing in April 2014.

The memoir will tell “the amazing story of her courageous battle against a life-threatening illness, the life lessons she continues to learn, and her inspiring return to the GMA anchor desk,” according to the publisher.

It will be Roberts’ second book. Her first, From the Heart, 7 Rules to Live By, was published by Hyperion in 2007.

“I am humbled that many have an interest, and draw strength from my on-going journey,” said Roberts in a statement. “I’m grateful for the prayers and well wishes of so many people. I’m thrilled that Jamie Raab and Grand Central Publishing will help me tell my story.”

More information below.

Read more

The studio space at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. is changing hands, Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton reports. Next month, ABC’s “This Week” will vacate the space and return to the network’s Washington bureau, and Al Jazeera America will move in.

“This Week” is hosted by George Stephanopoulos in New York a majority of the time. ABC’s D.C. bureau will be home to Washington-based guests and for the one week a month that Martha Raddatz guest-hosts the show.

Al Jazeera America, which B&C reports will have both office space and editing facilities in the Newseum, is preparing for its launch later this year. The network recently hired Adam May, a local reporter from Baltimore, as a D.C.-based national correspondent.

The broadcast networks are planning to give their news organizations extra space tonight to update viewers on the aftermath of the devastating tornado that ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City. In addition to expanded evening newscasts, NBC and ABC will have dedicated programming to coverage of the devastation and recovery.

NBC: NBC News will have a special from 8-9 PM live from Oklahoma, anchored by Brian Williams. Lester Holt, Ann Curry, Harry Smith and Kate Snow will be among the contributors. “NBC Nightly News” will also offer an hour-long newscast to affiliates this evening.

CBS: CBS News will not have a primetime special, however Scott Pelley will host a special edition of the “CBS Evening News” from 6:30 PM until 8 PM, offered to affiliates.

ABC: ABC News will be offering a one hour edition of “ABC World News” to affiliates. Diane Sawyer will be in New York, with David Muir in Moore. In addition at 12:35 AM “Nightline” will be special edition dedicated to Oklahoma.

Also: Muir, Ginger Zee and Mike Boettcher will reportfrom Oklahoma this afternoon on “Katie.”

“Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts received a standing ovation as she accepted her George Foster Peabody Award Monday. Roberts is the first journalist since Walter Cronkite to get a standing ovation at the awards lunch, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria.

Roberts, pictured here with ABC News president Ben Sherwood, was honored for reports on her bone marrow transplant, which successfully raised awareness for Be the Match, an organization that registers potential bone marrow donors.

“As journalists we want to cover stories that cause a reaction that leads to action,” Roberts said in her speech. “We had no idea chronicling my journey would cause such a catalyst for action … many becoming bone marrow donors.”

Scott Pelley emceed the event. CBS News, PBS and CNN were among this year’s other winners.

ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl finds himself in an unusual and never comfortable position: he has become the news.

Karl has released a statement expressing “regret” after it was revealed that he inaccurately identified reviewing handwritten notes based on emails as having reviewed the actual emails in his bombshell “exclusive” on Benghazi. While Karl did say that his story was based on “summaries” on the web story, in the stories that aired on the ABC news broadcasts it was reported that ABC had “obtained” the emails.

The full emails, (the first of which was obtained by Jake Tapper) which were released later that week, revealed content and quotations that did not entirely match up with the notes that Karl was given, although they did support some of the issues Karl raised. That said, Karl and ABC News maintain that the crux of the reporting–the changing talking points–remains accurate.

“I regret that one email was quoted incorrectly and I regret that it’s become a distraction from the story, which still entirely stands,” said Karl in a statement. “I should have been clearer about the attribution. We updated our story immediately when new information became available.”

Karl became the story on cable news last week, and was even mentioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he was effectively accused of being used by Republicans by White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer. Karl was also one of the stories covered on “Reliable Sources.”
Read more

ABC’s David Muir is the subject of an AdWeek Q+A. The “World News” weekend anchor talks to Sam Thielman about reporting from Iran, transitioning to the “20/20″ anchor desk and the reason why he looks forward to trips to faraway places:

How does the new agenda compare to what you started off with?
It is sort of an insane schedule, I’ll admit it. Last year I worked every day; there was Tahrir Square and Fukushima, and then the famine in Africa. I thought, “At least this year will be easier,” and then they asked me to take on 20/20.

It does sound like an incredibly packed schedule.
When I hear “13-hour flight,” I get excited, because it’s 13 hours no one can get ahold of you on your BlackBerry.

Do you worry that moving to a more prominent position will keep you chained to the desk?
I think the best anchors out there are the ones who globe trot and who are hungry every day to explore another corner of the world. Once I’m done with one project, I’m already thinking, “What’s the next thing I want to investigate?”

Entertainment Tonight went behind the scenes of “Good Morning America” earlier this week. Have you ever wanted to know where Josh Elliott hides his Grape Nuts? Watch, and ye shall see.

ABC’s “Nightline” posted its best Total Viewer ratings since moving to the 12:35 a.m timeslot for the week of May 6.

“Nightline” topped “The Late Late Show” on CBS by +476,000 Total Viewers and “Late Night” on NBC by +11,000 Total Viewers during the second week of the May sweep. “Nightline” was second to “Late Night” in both A25-54 and A18-49 viewers.

The ABC show improved on its prior week performance by +14% in Total Viewers, +4% in A25-54 viewers and +14% in A18-49 viewers.

ABC’s ratings are based on a 25-minute broadcast, while CBS and NBC are based on approximately :50 minutes (prior to the final national commercial break of each program).

• Week of May 6, 2013:

Show	Network	Total Viewers	A25-54	A18-49
Nightline	ABC	1.779M	715K	582K
Late Night	NBC	1.768M	823K	689K
Late Late Show	CBS	1.303M	630K	472K

As Barbara Walters gears up for her retirement next year, television critics are beginning to weigh in on the legacy she leaves behind in television. The New York Times’ Alessandra Stanley calls Walters “television personified”:

Intuitively, knowingly or just luckily, Ms. Walters has moved — and is moving — in concert with tastes and audiences and real influence. She defected from nighttime to daytime just as many viewers were doing the same … And now, as more and more viewers leave broadcast television altogether, so does she.

Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams praises Walters for being first in “nearly everything about women in television news”:

And if television news is still frequently a hollow, sexist echo chamber, don’t blame Barbara. She showed everything that’s possible for a woman of brains and ambition in an industry that has little use for women with either.

Williams’ Salon colleague Alex Pareene takes the opposing viewpoint, calling Walters’ career “an extended exercise in sycophancy and unalloyed power worship”: Read more