This article contains good behind-the-scenes reporting on Ted Koppel’s departure from ABC. According to one producer quoted in it, ABC executive David Westin wanted Nightline to be a superficial, Good Night America-style show. “I was told that people want to go to bed happy,” he says. Among other problems rankling Westin was that Koppel’s negotiated salary kept rising as the show’s ratings kept dipping. Koppel even offered to plow some of his salary back into the show’s production. Now Nightline has three hosts, but Westin figured this is cheaper than one.
