Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Letterman May Oust Koppel in Late Night TV

Aired March 01, 2002 - 09:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The "Big Question" this hour: could it be good night for "Nightline"? There is news today that David Letterman is considering an option to leave CBS and join ABC, which would end the two decade long run of "Nightline" and its veteran anchor, Ted Koppel.

Joining us now from Washington, Howard Kurtz, "Washington Post" media critic and host of CNN's program, RELIABLE SOURCES. Happy Friday to you, Howie.

HOWARD KURTZ, "WASHINGTON POST": Same to you, Paula.

ZAHN: All right. I know you did some extensive reporting in the "Washington Post" on this this morning. How could it be that they would contemplate this move, and not tell Ted Koppel anything about it?

KURTZ: I think Ted Koppel is asking that very question. I mean, this story has gone off like a nuclear bomb in the television business. ABC, indeed, in serious negotiations with David Letterman to bring his schtick from CBS to ABC's 11:30 time slot.

And in the process, basically blowing up a franchise that has not only won awards in a lot of journalistic respects since 1980, but has done pretty well in the ratings, "Nightline" often competitive with Letterman. Sometimes even beating Letterman with about five and a half million viewers, both of them, of course, trailing Jay Leno at NBC. And -- excuse me -- Koppel is said to be furious at being blind sided, and at the prospect of losing this franchise that he has worked so hard to build over the years.

ZAHN: Might he walk and leave ABC after this very productive relationship?

KURTZ: It is certainly a possibility if, in fact, ABC signs Letterman, it is not a done deal at this point, and "Nightline" gets dislodged from the 11:30 slot. I would be the end of "Nightline" as we know it. Now Koppel has got a lot of options. He could go fishing, he could start his own production company. ABC executives are -- some of them, anyway, are putting out the word that, Oh, we love Ted, and we have the greatest respect for Ted, and perhaps we can move him...

ZAHN: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. KURTZ: You've heard it before. Perhaps we can move him to prime time, and make better use of him. Interestingly, Koppel has always resisted that move. I talked to him a couple of years ago, and he said, If you put on -- if you try to put on "Nightline" at 9:00 or 10:00, then you have got to deliver an audience that is twice as large just to stay competitive with other entertainment shows and sitcoms, and that brings great pressure to do more mass appeal stuff, to do more schlop (ph), frankly, and Koppel didn't want to do that.

Now, whether he might feel differently if David Letterman is given the keys to 11:30 remains to be seen. But, he is not a happy camper at this point, and it is a very delicate situation for ABC and for ABC News, which probably feels that as funny a guy as David Letterman is, they are failing to see the humor right now.

ZAHN: Oh, absolutely. I think we could all understand that. But what are the chances of ABC actually succeeding, and in their judgment, by bringing David Letterman to their network?

KURTZ: Well, you know, purely on the entertainment front, it would be an absolute coup for ABC to steal Letterman from CBS and be a player in the comedy wars, and I think the chances of succeeding, you would have to say, are pretty decent. Letterman had a window in his contract with CBS that allows him to negotiate with another network.

Obviously, I mean, he already makes many millions of dollars. He is said to be unhappy at CBS -- I have a hard time sometimes understanding how people who are paid that much money to be funny are, never the less, deeply unhappy -- and the story would not have leaked had things not reached a pretty sensitive point where this actually could become a reality, so...

ZAHN: All right. But Howard...

KURTZ: While not a done deal, I would not rule it out.

ZAHN: Yeah, but when you look at all the information you've been given, is it fair to say CBS just blew the negotiation, that they really felt that he had no place to go, and that he had no leverage?

KURTZ: I think, probably, most people at CBS and elsewhere -- and if you had asked me a week ago, I would have said that there was no 11:30 opening at ABC, because Koppel has been the franchise there at that hour. So, since NBC had Leno, unless Letterman wanted to go to cable, maybe CNN would be interested in hiring him, I think CBS probably got a little complacent, or maybe it is not about money, and maybe there is just some bad blood there.

I'm not privy to those negotiations, but clearly CBS would be losing one of it's biggest name players. I guess Letterman, also, was frustrated because after he jumped to CBS in the early 90's and was initially the late night leader, he has been a consistent number two to Jay Leno.

ZAHN: Right. And I guess he's arguing for a better lead-in, and he might demand that at ABC if that's possible, but I also read in some accounts this morning that he didn't feel CBS appreciated him all that much.

KURTZ: That tends to happen, as you know, when a star, a temperamental star, everyone knows Letterman is eccentric, that is one of his charms, is at a network for a while, particularly if there are ratings difficulties, you tend to find reasons why you are not being treated well, even though he certainly was compensated well. And, you know, somebody at ABC or Disney, the parent company clearly saw this as an opportunity to steal a major talent from a rival network. Unfortunately for them, it really is going to set off a revolt at ABC News if this happens...

ZAHN: Sure.

KURTZ: ...and it does indeed lead to the jettisoning of "Nightline."

ZAHN: What a different one day makes in our industry. On to the issue of "Celebrity Boxing." Fox has announced that on March 13th, we are going to see Tonya Harding, we all remember her from the '94 Winter Olympics and her showdown with Nancy Kerrigan; and Amy Fisher, which people outside of New York might not remember, she is the "Long Island Lolita," who was convicted of shooting and wounding the wife of her lover. What is this all about?

KURTZ: I would like to be able to tell you I could find some socially redeeming value here, but I'm just not smart enough to see it. I think this is sad, I think it is pathetic, I think it's sleazy, and, you know, why have them box? Why stop there? Why not do some mud wrestling? Clearly, this is an attempt to take the reality TV genre a little bit lower, and it has already gone pretty low in my estimation.

And also, let's consider who is involved here. Tonya Harding wasn't just a bad girl skater. She was involved in a plot to whack the knee caps of her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan. Amy Fisher, you know, became this sort of famous tabloid personality. She actually shot a woman, and could have killed her, the wife, as you mentioned, of her auto mechanic boyfriend.

For Fox Entertainment to now sort of celebrate these two women as just kind of being bad girls, I think is in extraordinarily poor taste. Clearly, though somebody is betting that a lot of folks can be made to tune in.

ZAHN: Guess what? Given the track record of some of these shows, it probably will rate pretty well, won't it, Howard?

KURTZ: Well, I think people are going to vote with their remote controls as to what kind of entertainment they want to see. Certainly when you talk about "Survivor" and you have got half-naked people running around on an island, and when you talk about "Temptation Island," when you've got half-naked people running around on an island talking about sex, and "The Fear Factor," which, I guess, features worms and rats and other unappetizing details to which contestants are subjected, those have all done pretty well in the ratings, so the people at Fox are trying to come up with something new. Something that is going to grab people, it has got a couple of big names involved. And it is almost like the -- what we used to think as the sleaze environment of daytime television has now migrated into prime time. And if this thing does well, if people can't wait to see Tonya Harding and Amy Fisher go at it, we'll probably see more copy cat programs on Fox and elsewhere. On the other hand, if it tanks, maybe it will tell us that even these folks are going too far.

ZAHN: We will see. Howard Kurtz. Thanks for your insights this morning.

KURTZ: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com