1979 ABC World News Tonight Promo

At this point in the evolution of ABC News, the experiment with having Harry Reasoner co-anchor with Barbara Walters had failed miserably ... mainly due to Reasoner's patronizing attitude toward his colleague.

By the late 1970s, ABC News president Roone Arledge selected four personalities to share the World News Tonight limelight.

Frank Reynolds anchored from Washington, Max Robinson brought news from 'the heartland' out of the Chicago Bureau, Peter Jennings reported on overseas news from the London Bureau and the always lovely and talented Barbara Walters brought interviews as only she can.

Ratings slowly climbed to the point where World News Tonight eventually beat both NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News, marking the first time ever that ABC had the most popular network evening newscast.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ABC
• World
• News
• Tonight
• 1979

[joltinjack]

I remember Frank Reynolds scolding his news gatherers/sources when they erroneously reported that James Brady was "dead" (moments after Reagan was shot - 3/30/81). When it was apparent that he wasn't, he was visibly upset and scoffed on air and said, "Get it right!"

[chrisman737]

Yes. I really miss all of them. I think probably Peter Jennings the most, maybe.

[3bhui]

Max Robinson was cool.

[HickysBoy]

@MegaObserver1 As a big Harry Reasoner fan, thank you for setting the record straight. I remember their first broadcast when BaBa WaWa got to do the interview with Anwar Sadat. Towards the end Sadat congratulated her on the big contract and said, 'How do you make million dollars? I am president of country and do not even make million dollars!'

[MegaObserver1]

@jsrosa1282 No,it wasn't personal. Reasoner had a contract saying he'd be the sole ABC Evening News anchor beginning in 1975 (when Howard K. Smith retired). ABC's hiring of Walters violated that contract. Reasoner went along with it, anyway, for a year and a half, still resentful - at ABC, not Walters - that his contract was violated.

[rebafan19]

Barbara Walters is still on The View

[radiodj1520]

I Believe This Was A Video Clip Of ABC News' World News Tonight's The Most Watchful News On Television Video Promo From 1979.

[Somethingwicked9]

I hate Barbara Walters,she's a nosey old hypocrite,Peter Jennings was hot.

[BobbyLankford83]

Barbara Walters is the only one in this ad still with us.

[noahf67]

@tvpirate05 My earliest recollections are of the Smith-Reasoner report,

but what ties all generations of the last 40+ years of ABC News?

The announcers, like Bill Rice and a few key others, that continue

to introduce these broadcasts over the decades. Here's to them!

[jsrosa1282]

Reasoner and Walters really hated each other, didn't they?

[FrsBigeasy]

Richard Nixon's Commercials were Effective & Ahead of their Time.