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This Week (ABC TV series)
Encyclopedia
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.
The Sunday morning talk show
has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC
since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones. Since August 1, 2010, the program has been anchored by Christiane Amanpour
.
. One of its early hosts was Howard K. Smith
, who also had his own prime-time public affairs program Howard K. Smith: News and Comment
in the 1962-1963 season. Another host was Bob Clark
.
On November 15, 1981, David Brinkley
came to the network from NBC
and took over the show, which was renamed This Week. During Brinkley's run, three major sponsors were part of the show: General Electric
, Archer Daniels Midland
and Merrill Lynch
. The names of the regular hosts have been included in the billing for the program, such as This Week with David Brinkley. After Brinkley retired on December 8, 1996, Sam Donaldson
and Cokie Roberts
co-hosted. George Stephanopoulos
became the host on September 15, 2002; he ended his tenure on January 10, 2010, shortly after being named the co-host of Good Morning America
. ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
served as the interim anchor from March to July 2010. Christiane Amanpour began as anchor on August 1, 2010. During her first two months as host, the ratings for This Week reached its lowest point since 2003.
and ABC News correspondents such as Sam Donaldson
and Cokie Roberts
, and other guests discussing the major issues of the week. Will, a regular panelist since the program's start with David Brinkley, sometimes contributes short reports to the broadcast.
Other key features include the Sunday Funnies, excerpts of jokes from late night television
programs of the previous week; and In Memoriam, a selection of prominent deaths from politics, business, and culture, and a listing of all reported military deaths from that week.
On April 20, 2008, This Week began broadcasting from the Newseum
in Washington D.C. in a studio that overlooks the U.S. Capitol. In addition, the program became available in high definition for the first time in the program's history, also becoming the first Sunday morning talk show in high definition. Since this transition, the broadcast no longer includes 'Voices' or 'Images'; however, it still shows 'In Memoriam' and 'The Sunday Funnies'.
In February, 2009, the gap between Meet the Press and its competitors — CBS' Face the Nation and ABC's This Week — began closing. Meet the Press posted its lowest ratings since NBC's David Gregory became moderator in early February, with the show airing Sunday, Feb. 1 averaging just 3.9 million viewers. Face the Nation averaged 3.33 million total viewers, while This Week came in just behind with 3.32 million total viewers. This Week beat Meet the Press on January 11, when George Stephanopoulos interviewed President-Elect Barack Obama.
In 2010, Jake Tapper arranged with Bill Adair to get PolitiFact.com
to fact check This Week.
in Europe and the Middle East. It also airs on Sky News Australia
in Australia
, on NHK
in Japan
, and on TVNZ 7 in New Zealand
.
is almost always a panelist. Other recurring panelists include Cokie Roberts
, Sam Donaldson
, Fareed Zakaria
, Martha Raddatz
, Peggy Noonan
, Torie Clarke
, Donna Brazile
, Paul Krugman
, Jay Carney
, Claire Shipman
, E.J. Dionne, Jr.
, Robert Reich
, David Corn
, Katrina vanden Heuvel
, Mark Halperin
, Joe Klein
, David Brooks
, Matthew Dowd
, and Ed Gillespie
.
The Sunday morning talk show
Sunday-morning interview shows
The Sunday morning talk shows are television talk/public affairs programs broadcast on Sunday mornings. Often featuring national leaders in politics and public life as guests, this type of program originated in the United States, and has since been used in other countries.-United States:In the...
has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones. Since August 1, 2010, the program has been anchored by Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
.
Hosts
In 1960, ABC's Sunday talk show was launched as Issues and AnswersIssues and Answers
Issues and Answers was a once-weekly TV news program that was telecast by the American Broadcasting Company network from 1960 to 1981. It was distributed to the ABC affiliate stations early on Sunday afternoons for either live broadcast or video taped for later broadcast.Issues and Answers was...
. One of its early hosts was Howard K. Smith
Howard K. Smith
Howard Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original Edward R. Murrow boys.-Early life:...
, who also had his own prime-time public affairs program Howard K. Smith: News and Comment
Howard K. Smith: News and Comment
Howard K. Smith: News and Comment was a half-hour ABC news and documentary program hosted by commentator Howard K. Smith , which aired from February 14, 1962, to June 16, 1963...
in the 1962-1963 season. Another host was Bob Clark
Bob Clark (television reporter)
Bob Clark was a television reporter and White House Correspondent for ABC News from the 1960s until the 1970s. He is most remembered for reporting the assassinations of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968...
.
On November 15, 1981, David Brinkley
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
came to the network from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and took over the show, which was renamed This Week. During Brinkley's run, three major sponsors were part of the show: General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer Daniels Midland Company is a conglomerate headquartered in Decatur, Illinois. ADM operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial and animal feed markets worldwide.ADM was named the...
and Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
. The names of the regular hosts have been included in the billing for the program, such as This Week with David Brinkley. After Brinkley retired on December 8, 1996, Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
and Cokie Roberts
Cokie Roberts
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts , best known as Cokie Roberts, is an American Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She is a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio as well as a regular roundtable analyst for the current This Week with Christiane...
co-hosted. George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
became the host on September 15, 2002; he ended his tenure on January 10, 2010, shortly after being named the co-host of Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper
Jacob Paul "Jake" Tapper is an American print and television journalist, currently the senior White House correspondent for ABC News in Washington, D.C...
served as the interim anchor from March to July 2010. Christiane Amanpour began as anchor on August 1, 2010. During her first two months as host, the ratings for This Week reached its lowest point since 2003.
Key features
One of the key features of This Week is the roundtable, which includes pundits such as George WillGeorge Will
George Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
and ABC News correspondents such as Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
and Cokie Roberts
Cokie Roberts
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts , best known as Cokie Roberts, is an American Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She is a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio as well as a regular roundtable analyst for the current This Week with Christiane...
, and other guests discussing the major issues of the week. Will, a regular panelist since the program's start with David Brinkley, sometimes contributes short reports to the broadcast.
Other key features include the Sunday Funnies, excerpts of jokes from late night television
Late night television
Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and is most notable for being the daypart used for a particular genre of programming that falls...
programs of the previous week; and In Memoriam, a selection of prominent deaths from politics, business, and culture, and a listing of all reported military deaths from that week.
On April 20, 2008, This Week began broadcasting from the Newseum
Newseum
The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The seven-level, museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany...
in Washington D.C. in a studio that overlooks the U.S. Capitol. In addition, the program became available in high definition for the first time in the program's history, also becoming the first Sunday morning talk show in high definition. Since this transition, the broadcast no longer includes 'Voices' or 'Images'; however, it still shows 'In Memoriam' and 'The Sunday Funnies'.
In February, 2009, the gap between Meet the Press and its competitors — CBS' Face the Nation and ABC's This Week — began closing. Meet the Press posted its lowest ratings since NBC's David Gregory became moderator in early February, with the show airing Sunday, Feb. 1 averaging just 3.9 million viewers. Face the Nation averaged 3.33 million total viewers, while This Week came in just behind with 3.32 million total viewers. This Week beat Meet the Press on January 11, when George Stephanopoulos interviewed President-Elect Barack Obama.
In 2010, Jake Tapper arranged with Bill Adair to get PolitiFact.com
PolitiFact.com
PolitiFact.com is a project that is operated by the St. Petersburg Times, a project in which its reporters and editors "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups...." They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com...
to fact check This Week.
International broadcasts
ABC News programming, including This Week, is shown weekly on the twenty-four hour news network Orbit NewsOrbit News
OSN News is a 24 hour satellite and cable channel offering exclusively American news programming from ABC, NBC, PBS, and MSNBC to U.S. expats and other viewers abroad, primarily geared towards an audience in the Arab countries...
in Europe and the Middle East. It also airs on Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia is an Australian 24 hour cable and satellite news channel available in 2.5 million homes on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television and Neighbourhood Cable subscription platforms....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and on TVNZ 7 in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Anchors
- David BrinkleyDavid BrinkleyDavid McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
(1981–1996) - Sam DonaldsonSam DonaldsonSamuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
and Cokie RobertsCokie RobertsMary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts , best known as Cokie Roberts, is an American Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She is a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio as well as a regular roundtable analyst for the current This Week with Christiane...
(1996–2002) - George StephanopoulosGeorge StephanopoulosGeorge Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
(2002–2010) - Jake TapperJake TapperJacob Paul "Jake" Tapper is an American print and television journalist, currently the senior White House correspondent for ABC News in Washington, D.C...
(interim anchor; March 2010–July 2010) - Christiane AmanpourChristiane AmanpourChristiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
(August 1, 2010–present)
Guest anchors
From the time between Stephanopoulos' announcement and the announcement that Amanpour would succeed Stephanopoulos, a variety of guest anchors were used.- Jake TapperJake TapperJacob Paul "Jake" Tapper is an American print and television journalist, currently the senior White House correspondent for ABC News in Washington, D.C...
(January 17, 2010) - Terry MoranTerry MoranTerry Moran is the co-anchor of Nightline.-Biography:Moran was born in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1982.-Professional career:-Career as Correspondent:...
(January 24, 2010) - Barbara WaltersBarbara WaltersBarbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
(January 31, 2010) - Elizabeth VargasElizabeth VargasElizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist who is anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News Specials. She was previously an anchor of World News Tonight.-Early years:...
(February 28, 2010) - Jonathan Karl (March 21, 2010)
- Matthew Dowd
Regular panelists
The Roundtable typically includes four panelists along with the moderator. George WillGeorge Will
George Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
is almost always a panelist. Other recurring panelists include Cokie Roberts
Cokie Roberts
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts , best known as Cokie Roberts, is an American Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She is a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio as well as a regular roundtable analyst for the current This Week with Christiane...
, Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
, Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became Editor-At-Large of Time magazine...
, Martha Raddatz
Martha Raddatz
Martha Raddatz is an American reporter with ABC News . She currently serves as the network's Chief Foreign Correspondent. She reports for ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, and other network broadcasts. In addition to her work for ABC News, Raddatz has written for The New Republic and...
, Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan is an American author of seven books on politics, religion, and culture and a weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal...
, Torie Clarke
Victoria Clarke
Victoria "Torie" Clarke is an American communications consultant who has served in several private sector positions and in three Republican presidential administrations, most notably as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,...
, Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile is an American author, professor, and political analyst affiliated with the Democratic Party. She was the first African American to direct a major presidential campaign, for Al Gore in 2000...
, Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
, Jay Carney
Jay Carney
James "Jay" Carney is an American journalist and President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden...
, Claire Shipman
Claire Shipman
Claire Shipman is an American television journalist, currently the senior national correspondent for the ABC program, Good Morning America. She also blogs at the website True/Slant. She is married to Jay Carney, President Barack Obama's White House Press Secretary.- Career :Shipman's broadcast...
, E.J. Dionne, Jr.
E. J. Dionne
Eugene Joseph "E.J." Dionne, Jr. is an American journalist and political commentator, and a long-time op-ed columnist for The Washington Post...
, Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Bernard Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997....
, David Corn
David Corn
David Corn is an American political journalist and author and the chief of the Washington bureau for Mother Jones. He has been Washington editor for The Nation and appeared regularly on FOX News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and BloggingHeads.tv opposite James Pinkerton or other media...
, Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor, publisher, and part-owner of the magazine The Nation. She has been the magazine's editor since 1995. She is a frequent guest on numerous television programs...
, Mark Halperin
Mark Halperin
Mark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is the co-author of Game Change.-Personal:Mark Halperin is the son of Morton Halperin and Ina Young. He has...
, Joe Klein
Joe Klein
Joe Klein is a longtime Washington, D.C. and New York journalist and columnist, known for his novel Primary Colors, an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. Klein is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a former Guggenheim...
, David Brooks
David Brooks (journalist)
David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...
, Matthew Dowd
Matthew Dowd
Matthew John Dowd is an American political consultant who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney '04 presidential campaign. In December 2007, he was introduced on ABC's Good Morning America as its new political contributor...
, and Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie
Edward W. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House. Gillespie, along with Jack Quinn, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm...
.
See also
- ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
- Sunday-morning interview shows
- Issues and AnswersIssues and AnswersIssues and Answers was a once-weekly TV news program that was telecast by the American Broadcasting Company network from 1960 to 1981. It was distributed to the ABC affiliate stations early on Sunday afternoons for either live broadcast or video taped for later broadcast.Issues and Answers was...
(ABC News' predecessor program to This Week) - Meet the PressMeet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
- Face the NationFace the NationFace the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
- Fox News SundayFox News SundayFox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is a public affairs program on the Fox network, hosted by Chris Wallace and airing on Sunday mornings. The show began on April 28, 1996, which predated the launch of Fox News Channel, and usually talks about items similar to Sunday morning talk shows...
- State of the Union with Candy Crowley
External links
- George's Bottom Line at ABC News
- This Week at ABC Medianet