Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRAZIER MOORE AP TELEVISION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The word ``Nightline'' against a starry sky.
The martial yet jaunty theme music: baah, baah, BAH-bom!
The view over Ted Koppel's shoulder in his Washington newsroom as he questions far-flung guests, their video images plastered on the wall.
The sphinx-like face Koppel wears, with soulful seen-it-all eyes but a wry twist of the mouth suggesting things aren't as dismal as they seem.
All this is part of ABC News' ``Nightline,'' (WSET, Channel 13) which for 15 years and counting has been a late-night TV fixture. Indeed, it is the second longest-running late-night series in history, and founding anchor Koppel reigns as late-night's senior host.
``Nightline'' predates CNN by several weeks, not to mention Court TV and CNBC, as well as all but two of the network prime-time magazines and all but one of the daytime talk shows. Yet today, in a television universe threatening information overload, it remains one-of-a-kind. And uniquely necessary.
It's also more popular than ever, which is pretty good for a show that has always behaved as if it were above that kind of thing.
But the evidence is there. So far in 1995, ``Nightline's'' ratings have been up 6 percent from the same period last year, and it has edged out CBS' ``Late Show with David Letterman'' as the No. 1 show in its time slot, with a nightly audience averaging more than 6.9 million viewers.
As it has for other TV shows that turned their cameras on it, the April 19 Oklahoma City bombing has spiked ``Nightline's'' ratings. Editions that Wednesday and the rest of the week were its most-watched this year.
But a given day's top story doesn't dictate that night's program.
For instance, to its credit, and surely to its viewers' relief, ``Nightline'' has dealt with the O.J. Simpson case less than once a week, on average, so far this year. Meanwhile, enterprise topics attracting large audiences included January's ``The Middle Class: A Fading Dream?'' and a February look at conflict of interest between journalists and police.
While the Oklahoma tragedy continues to resonate on ``Nightline,'' specific topics and treatments vary widely.
Substitute anchor Chris Wallace delved into Washington politics to probe the dilemma of the National Rifle Association, a group likely to be damaged by public reaction to the bombing.
There was a solemn, painful meditation on the Oklahoma City tragedy by, as Koppel explained, ``the people in the pictures, the ones who walked away.''
And on another evening, he moderated a live, 90-minute town hall meeting from tiny Decker United Methodist Church in even tinier Decker, Mich., suddenly notorious as the home of James Nichols, who has been accused of building illegal explosives with his brother and with Timothy McVeigh, the first suspect arrested in the Oklahoma bombing.
What of tonight's ``Nightline''? Even as you read this, the topic still may not be nailed down. Tuning in to see is part of the appeal, while you leave Letterman and NBC's Jay Leno to battle for the laughs.
But the irony is, ``Nightline's'' anchor, if he chose to, could challenge his late-night rivals at their own game. Ted Koppel, among other things, happens to be funny. Very funny.
For evidence, you might have been at an awards luncheon honoring Johnny Carson in Manhattan two years ago. It was Koppel, of all people, who introduced him, and who kept him in stitches with the rest of the room.
During his remarks, Koppel hailed the King of Late Night for ``giving pleasure to millions, night after night, for 30 years,'' then added: ``Some of us have trouble giving pleasure to one person a couple of times a month.''
But surely not Koppel. ``Nightline,'' the program he has stewarded so long, not only gives viewers its own brand of pleasure five times a week, but also a measure of insight.
by CNB