Ted Koppel to Make ABC News Return on ‘This Week?’

Politico’s Mike Allen reports that ABC News veteran Ted Koppel is in negotiations to return to the network as the anchor of “This Week,” a position that will soon be vacated by George Stephanopoulos. Hotline On Call also reported that Koppel is a top candidate.

But ABC says it’s still in the middle of the anchor-finding process and has not made any offers. ABC’s David Westin also says that some details floating around, such as the fact that Koppel would anchor three weekends a month under a $1 million-a-year contract, are incorrect:

ABC News President David Westin said in an e-mail: “We are in the middle of the process, and I will not comment on the specifics of whom we are and whom we are not talking to. I’m considering a number of alternatives. I will pull back the veil to the limited degree of telling you — for the benefit of your readers — that just about every specific that you have is false.”

Koppel told TVNewser’s Gail Shister in mid-December that he had not been approached by the network yet and said, “If ABC is interested, they know how to find me.”

> Previously: Sunday Show Tryouts?

> More from FishbowlDC: ABC on Politico’s Koppel Story: “Totally Off-Base”

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