Nightline's "Cruel Irony": Great Ratings, Beating Letterman, And It May Get Canceled For Jay Leno?

Nightline's "Cruel Irony": Great Ratings, Beating Letterman, And It May Get Canceled For Jay Leno?

NEW YORK -- Nearly three years after it could have been dealt a fatal blow by the departure of Ted Koppel, ABC's "Nightline" has bucked the odds to not only survive but thrive. But with Jay Leno's departure set to shake up late-night TV, "Nightline" may be facing an even stiffer challenge to survive.

Losing a talent of Koppel's magnitude has killed lesser shows, even without the radical transformation that the show underwent. "Nightline" went live after years on tape, offered three anchors instead of one and three stories every day instead of the single focus and conversation that had been a Koppel trademark.

But something unexpected happened on the way to the TV scrap heap. "Nightline" grew year-to-year in its first two years, even beating "Late Show With David Letterman" in some weeks. And in the crazy, WGA strike-impacted TV season just past, it was down only slightly while both "Late Show" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" saw steeper declines. Season-to-date, "Nightline" is a competitive No. 2 and has increased its retention from the ABC stations' late local news from 39% in 2005 to 50%.

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