New Nightline: Did We Mention It’s Live?

It was obvious even before the promo ended:

“Tonight on Nightline:

Behind enemy lines: An exclusive interview with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq about secret talks with insurgents. We’re live from Baghdad.

True confessions: Should the Catholic Church be screening out gay priests? The fierce debate — live.”

Is the trend obvious yet? It’s LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! The white “LIVE ET” bug on the top left corner of the screen reiterates the point: We didn’t tape this at 5 p.m. We’re waiting in Times Square…past midnight…until the Monday Night Football game ends…and we’re live. Bumpers in and out of commercials were labeled live, too, even though Times Square wasn’t exactly hopping at 1am.

Terry Moran walked and talked along a lonely Baghdad street, live. Cynthia McFadden moderated a conversation between two priests, live. Martin Bashir introduced his deaf football team package, live. In a news world where almost every cable show is live, will a live Nightline stand out?

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