The then-newly-launched ABC television network began a nightly newscast in the summer of 1948, when
H. R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons hosted
News and Views. This was succeeded by
After the Deadlines in 1951 and
All Star News in 1952. In the fall of 1953,
John Daly began anchoring the then-15-minute
John Daly and the News. Daly, who served as host of the CBS game show ''
What's My Line? contemporaneously, anchored the newscast until 1960, with multiple hosts and formats succeeding him. Anchors of the program during the early 1960s, sometimes for short periods, included Alex Dreier, John Secondari, Fendall Winston Yerxa, Al Mann, Bill Shadel, and the three-person team of John Cameron Swayze (formerly of NBC), Bill Lawrence, and Bill Sheehan. In 1962, Ron Cochran was appointed as full-time anchor, staying with the program, entitled, “Ron Cochran with the News”, until 1965. After Cochran left the program, Peter Jennings, a Canadian journalist who was 26 years old at the time, was named anchor of the retitled Peter Jennings with the News''. In December 1967, the inexperienced Jennings left the anchor chair and was reassigned by the news division as an international correspondent for the news program. The newly renamed
ABC Evening News was hosted, in succession, by
Bob Young (January 1968 to May 1968), and then by
Frank Reynolds (May 1968 to December 1970), who was joined by
Howard K. Smith in May 1969. The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes in January 1967, nearly years after both CBS and NBC had expanded their evening news programs to a half-hour.
Reasoner, Smith, and Walters Harry Reasoner, formerly of
CBS News and
60 Minutes, joined ABC News in 1970 to co-anchor
ABC Evening News with Smith, beginning that December, replacing Reynolds. The ratings increased steadily, but still remained in third place, behind dominant CBS and NBC. In 1975, Howard K. Smith was moved to a commentator role, and Reasoner briefly assumed sole-anchor responsibilities until he was paired with
Barbara Walters, who became the first female network anchor when she joined the program on October 4, 1976.
Ratings for the nightly news broadcast declined shortly thereafter, possibly due in part to the lack of chemistry between Reasoner and Walters. Reasoner would eventually return to CBS and
60 Minutes, while Walters became a regular on the newsmagazine
20/20.
"First News" strategy (1967–1982) Even in areas with three full-time network affiliates, ABC stations often opted to broadcast the news program in the 6:00 p.m./5:00 p.m. timeslot to entice viewers by presenting the day's national and international news first, thus making it more likely that they would stay tuned to the station's local newscast immediately following the program (or one half-hour afterward), instead of turning to CBS or NBC. Starting in 1973, before the advent of
closed captioning,
PBS began airing an
open captioned version of the
ABC Evening News that was distributed to various
public television stations throughout the U.S., airing mostly in late-night timeslots five hours after the original ABC broadcast. This version was produced by
WGBH, the Boston PBS station, which provided the captions and repackaged the broadcast with additional news stories – some of which were of special interest to the
hearing impaired – as well as late-news developments, weather forecasts, and sports scores inserted in place of commercials. It was originally titled
The Captioned ABC Evening News, and later as
The Captioned ABC News, and it was originally distributed by the
Eastern Educational Network, before becoming a national program under PBS a year later. The practice continued until 1982, when real-time closed captioning was first introduced in the United States by the
National Captioning Institute.
World News Tonight (first era) The early years (1978–1983) Always the perennial third in the national ratings, ABC News president
Roone Arledge reformatted the program, relaunching it as
World News Tonight in July 1978. Reynolds, who was demoted when the network hired Reasoner, returned as lead anchor, reporting from ABC News' Washington, D.C. bureau.
Max Robinson – who became the first African American network news anchor upon his appointment on the program – anchored national news from the news division's Chicago bureau. Peter Jennings, who also returned for a second stint, reported international headlines from the division's London bureau. Occasional contributions included special reports by Walters, who was credited as anchor of the special coverage desk from New York City and worldwide, and commentary by Smith, who was easing into eventual retirement. The program's distinct and easily identifiable theme (whose four-note musical signature was eventually used on other ABC News programs) was written by
Bob Israel. 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-watched network evening newscast.
Peter Jennings's second solo tenure (1983–2005) In April 1983, Reynolds became ill, and ABC News brought in
This Week moderator
David Brinkley to fill in for Reynolds. This arrangement continued until July 4; when ABC news summoned Peter Jennings to leave London and anchor from Washington, leaving both him and Robinson to co-anchor the broadcast until Reynolds' planned return. However, Reynolds died on July 20, 1983, from
bone cancer. A rotation of anchors hosted the program until August 9, 1983, when ABC announced that Jennings became the sole anchor and senior editor of
World News Tonight, which took effect September 5, and on that day, the program began broadcasting from New York City on a regular basis.
Bill Owen would replace Bill Rice as announcer for a year. In September 1984, the program was renamed
World News Tonight with Peter Jennings to reflect its sole anchor and senior editor. Robinson left ABC News earlier in 1984, after stints of anchoring news briefs and the weekend editions of
World News Tonight; he died from complications of AIDS in 1988. With Jennings as lead anchor,
World News Tonight was the most-watched national newscast from February 27, 1989, to November 1, 1996, but from then on until February 2007, it placed second behind its main rival,
NBC Nightly News. In April 2005, Jennings announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and, as before, other ABC News anchors, including
20/20 co-anchor
Elizabeth Vargas and
Good Morning America co-anchor
Charles Gibson, filled in for him. Jennings died of lung cancer on August 7, 2005, at his apartment in New York City, at age 67. The August 8, 2005, edition of the program was dedicated in memory of Jennings and looked back at his four-decade career in news. His death ended the era of the so-called "Big Three" anchors: Jennings, NBC's
Tom Brokaw, and CBS's
Dan Rather (the latter two had retired from their positions as the respective anchors of
NBC Nightly News and the
CBS Evening News within the year prior to Jennings's death). During his career, Jennings had reported from every major world capital and war zone, and from all 50 U.S. states, according to the network. Jennings was known for his ability to calmly portray events as they were happening and for his coverage of many major world events such as the
September 11 attacks and the dawn of the new millennium. As a tribute to its recently deceased anchor, ABC continued to introduce the broadcast as
World News Tonight with Peter Jennings in the week following his death. Gibson anchored the broadcast the first part of the week, playing a slow arrangement of the traditional theme music in memory of Jennings;
Bob Woodruff anchored the final edition of
World News Tonight with Peter Jennings on August 12, 2005. That night's broadcast ended with one of Jennings's favorite pieces of music instead of the traditional theme music. Beginning on August 15, 2005, the broadcast was introduced simply as
World News Tonight and it remained that way until January 2006.
Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (January–May 2006) The program would return to a two-anchor format, when in early December 2005, ABC News announced that Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff would be the new permanent co-anchors of
World News Tonight, replacing Jennings. People in the news industry looked at the choice of Vargas and Woodruff by ABC News as the start of a new era in network television news. The broadcast was produced live three times per day – the regular live broadcast for the Eastern and Central Time Zones, plus separate broadcasts for the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones. In addition, a live
webcast,
World News Now (which, incidentally, carried the same title as ABC's
overnight news program), with a newsbrief and a preview of that evening's broadcast, was launched. The webcast aired live at 3:00 pm. Eastern Time on
ABC News Now and ABCNews.com, and could be viewed throughout the rest of the day after 4:00 pm. Eastern Time. On January 29, 2006, Woodruff and his cameraman,
Doug Vogt, were injured by a road-side
bomb while riding in an Iraqi military convoy. Both underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in
Balad, Iraq ( north of
Baghdad). Both men incurred head injuries in the incident, even though they were both wearing body armor and helmets. Woodruff and Vogt were then evacuated to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, before later being transferred to
Bethesda Naval Hospital in
Maryland for further treatment and released for outpatient treatment. Within a few months after Woodruff's accident, ABC News announced that Vargas was pregnant and due to give birth to her second child in late summer. For about a month,
Good Morning America co-hosts Charles Gibson and
Diane Sawyer had alternated co-anchoring the newscast with Vargas. During the spring of 2006, Vargas mostly anchored the broadcast alone, becoming the first
de facto solo female evening news anchor. At the time, it was unknown what ABC News planned to do until Woodruff returned to the anchor chair, which appeared not to be within the near future, and when Vargas began her maternity leave. Rumors flew that Sawyer wanted to become the sole anchor of
World News Tonight to beat
Katie Couric's switch to the anchor chair at the
CBS Evening News. However,
New York Post columnist
Cindy Adams reported that Gibson would become Woodruff's "temporary permanent replacement". Also starting in early 2006, the West Coast editions of
World News Tonight were scaled back because Vargas anchored the broadcast on her own at the time.
World News Charles Gibson (2006–2009) anchored
World News Tonight, later
World News, from 2006 to 2009.
Barack Obama with Gibson in the
East Room of the
White House during
ABC News Prescription for America "
town-hall"-style conversation on
health care, June 24, 2009. In May 2006, Vargas announced her resignation from
World News Tonight. Charles Gibson was then named sole anchor of the program, effectively replacing Vargas and her injured co-anchor Woodruff. Vargas cited her doctors' recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably because of her maternity leave, and her wish to spend more time with her new baby. She has since returned to co-anchor
20/20 and ABC News specials, and has served as a substitute anchor on
World News Tonight under Gibson and his successors. Woodruff, although still recovering from his injuries, returned to
World News Tonight as a correspondent on February 28, 2007. Some media analysts found the reasons for the appointment of Gibson as anchor to be merely a cover for ABC News's real intentions to bring stability to its flagship news program, which had seen its ratings slip, and to attract some older viewers away from the
CBS Evening News with interim anchor
Bob Schieffer. Indeed, the advertising campaign focused on Gibson's experience, calling him "Your Trusted Source", similar to a campaign for Jennings, "Trust Is Earned", in the wake of the
Killian documents controversy at CBS and
Brian Williams's assumption of the NBC anchor chair. On July 19, 2006, ABC News announced that
World News Tonight would have its name officially changed to
World News with Charles Gibson. The network chose to make the, albeit minor, change to remove "Tonight" from the title to reflect the program's expansion into the "24-hour space created by the digital world". and the two programs remained in a tight race until the fall of 2008, when the NBC program established a consistent lead. On August 25, 2008,
World News became the fourth and final network evening newscast to begin broadcasting in
HD. On September 2, 2009, ABC News announced that Gibson would retire from ABC News altogether on December 18, 2009, and that Sawyer would assume the anchor desk on December 21, 2009. Gibson's final broadcast ended with a video tribute that included all of the living former U.S. Presidents, former ABC anchors, actors and actresses, singers, comedians,
Mickey Mouse,
Kermit the Frog, athletes, the commander of the
International Space Station, competitors Couric and Williams, and was capped off by U.S. President
Barack Obama. was the anchor of
World News from 2009 to 2014. in 2010
Diane Sawyer (2009–2014) Long-time ABC journalist and anchorwoman
Diane Sawyer (who previously co-anchored
Good Morning America with predecessor Gibson) began anchoring the broadcast, which amended its title to
ABC World News, on December 21, 2009. On that date, the program debuted an updated set, new graphics during the introductory segment, along with a new announcer,
Mike Rowe (then host of
Discovery Channel's
Dirty Jobs), who replaced longtime announcer Bill Rice. A new set for the program debuted on August 23, 2010. Substitute anchors for the program during Sawyer's tenure when she was away or on assignment, in addition to Vargas, included David Muir (who by that point, anchored the weekend editions of
World News and served as a weekday correspondent),
George Stephanopoulos,
Cynthia McFadden, Dan Harris,
Paula Faris and
Byron Pitts (with the exception of McFadden, who left ABC News in August 2014, most of these anchors/correspondents have also served as substitutes following Muir's appointment as anchor of the program). The Sawyer tenure was marked by a shift towards more "
news you can use" features, and less of a focus on hard international news.
World News at the time had a 60% female viewership, the highest of the three major network evening newscasts. On October 1, 2012,
World News debuted a new logo, opening theme (which was composed by
Hans Zimmer, replacing the longtime Bob Israel-composed theme), an updated set and new graphics package. The program also introduced a segment called the "Instant Index", a feature appearing as the penultimate segment of each night's broadcast focusing on news stories that are trending on social media,
pop culture and entertainment-related stories and
viral videos. Another feature introduced during Sawyer's tenure was "Made in America", a feature segment reported by David Muir, chronicling enterprising American companies. On June 25, 2014, ABC News announced that Sawyer would step down as the weekday anchor of
ABC World News; Sawyer would be succeeded by the program's then weekend anchor, David Muir, effective September 2. On July 28, 2014, the program debuted a slightly updated set, which includes a new, larger monitor behind the anchor desk. Diane Sawyer ultimately decided to end her tenure as anchor of
ABC World News nearly a week before Muir began as anchor of the weeknight editions on August 27, 2014, to spend time with family. By the time Sawyer left
World News, the program was the No. 1 network evening newscast in all major key demographics and significantly closed the ratings gap with
NBC Nightly News in total viewership.
World News Tonight (second era) David Muir (2014–present) Donald Trump in 2020 David Muir became the weekday anchor and managing editor of the program on September 1, 2014, while retaining his duties as co-anchor of
20/20. At the same time,
Good Morning America co-host
George Stephanopoulos assumed the news division's Chief Anchor position that had traditionally been assigned to the anchor of
World News. Following the departure of Diane Sawyer, the title of the program was also silently rebranded back to
World News Tonight for the first time since 2006, albeit with "ABC" attached to the title. Primary substitutes are Stephanopoulos,
Rebecca Jarvis, and
Amy Robach.
World News Tonight has broadcast from San Bernardino, Orlando, Paris, and Brussels after terrorist attacks, and from Dallas after
five policemen were shot dead in July 2016. In November 2016,
World News Tonight was the most-watched network primetime newscast for the first time in 18 years. The last time
World News held the top spot was during the 1998–99 season when Peter Jennings sat at the anchor's desk, according to Nielsen.
World News Tonight was the most-watched network evening newscast for the week of March 30, 2015. This marked the first time in seven years that the program finished at No. 1, beating out
NBC Nightly News in all categories. On August 10, 2020,
World News Tonight marked 11 consecutive weeks as "America's Most-Watched Show". On September 8, 2020,
World News Tonight debuted a new title card, reintroduced the long-time Bob Israel-composed opening theme (replacing the Hans Zimmer theme), and revealed an updated set and new graphics package. On October 26, 2023,
World News Tonight began posting full broadcasts to ABC News'
YouTube channel. On March 7, 2025,
World News Tonight re-located to Disney's new campus at
7 Hudson Square, maintaining a relatively similar (albeit upgraded) studio. == Anchors ==