Will Host and Produce Long Form Journalism on Major Global
Topics Exclusively for Network
SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Communications
announced today that Ted Koppel will host and produce long form programming
examining major global topics and events exclusively for the Discovery
Channel. A 42-year veteran of network broadcasting, Koppel will be Managing
Editor at the Discovery Channel, and is joined at Discovery Communications by
longtime Executive Producer Tom Bettag and eight former Nightline staff
members. Billy Campbell, President, Discovery Networks US, to whom Koppel and
Bettag will report, made the announcement.
"Discovery has always represented the highest quality television in the
world. With Ted Koppel and his team, Discovery is making a long-term
commitment to produce high quality programming that gives our global audience
insight, perspective and analysis beyond just the headlines," said Campbell.
"Our objective is to create a more substantial approach to in-depth
journalism. We want audiences to know that when there is a major world event
or topic that affects our lives, and they are looking for more context, more
depth and more information, Discovery Channel is where they will find it."
"The ten of us are enormously excited to be at a place that wants nothing
more than to produce the kind of television journalism that focuses on issues
that matter to the largest number of people," Koppel said. "We look forward to
creating quality programming that provides the in-depth information for which
Discovery Channel is known."
Koppel and Bettag will begin working with the company's top programming
executives to develop a slate of long-form programming, including town hall
meetings that will examine some of the most important issues in the world
today. In a multi-year deal, Koppel and Bettag will join Discovery
Communications immediately with the first program scheduled to air in fall
2006 on the Discovery Channel, headed by General Manager Jane Root.
The Discovery Channel has a long tradition of groundbreaking documentaries
over its 20-year history including: Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation; Behind the
Hatred; Thomas L. Friedman Reporting: The World Ate My Job, that formed the
basis for the best selling book, "The World is Flat"; Iraq Under Fire with Tom
Brokaw; Bio-terror: The Invisible Enemy with Tom Brokaw; The Flight That
Fought Back; and most recently America's Tsunami: Are We Next? Today's
announcement builds on Discovery's longstanding position as one of the most
trusted media sources anywhere in the world and promises to offer viewers more
depth, more information and a greater understanding of the world around them.
Ted Koppel is a 42-year veteran of ABC News. Since 1980, he was the
anchor and managing editor of ABC News Nightline, one of the most honored
broadcasts in television history. As the nation's longest running network
daily news anchor, his interviews and reporting touched every major news story
over the past 25 years.
Koppel has won every major broadcasting award including 40 Emmy Awards,
six George Foster Peabody Awards, 10 duPont-Columbia Awards, and two George
Polk Awards. His 10 Overseas Press Club Awards make him the most honored
journalist in the Club's history. He is an inductee in the Broadcasting Hall
of Fame. He has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities in
the United States.
Before becoming Nightline anchor, Koppel worked as an anchor, foreign and
domestic correspondent and bureau chief of ABC News.
From 1971 to 1980 he was ABC News' chief diplomatic correspondent, and for
a two-year period beginning in 1975 he anchored the ABC Saturday Night News.
His diplomatic assignment took him more than a quarter of a million miles
during former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's "shuttle diplomacy."
Before being named diplomatic correspondent Koppel was ABC News' Hong Kong
bureau chief from 1969 to 1971, covering stories from Vietnam to Australia.
In 1968 he became Miami bureau chief for ABC News which included covering
Latin America. On the political beat he has had a major reporting role in
every presidential campaign since 1964.
Koppel joined ABC News New York in 1963 as a full-time general assignment
correspondent, at the age of 23. Prior to joining ABC News he worked at WMCA
Radio in New York City, where he was a desk assistant and an occasional off-
air reporter.
A native of Lancashire, England, Koppel moved to the United States with
his parents when he was 13 years old. He holds a Bachelor of Science from
Syracuse University and an M.A. in mass communications research and political
science from Stanford.
He is married to the former Grace Anne Dorney of New York City. They
reside in Maryland and have four children.
Tom Bettag has been executive producer of daily network news broadcasts
for the past 19 years. For the past 14 years, he was executive producer of
ABC News Nightline. Between 2000 and 2004, as senior executive producer of
Nightline, he did stints as the executive producer of the ABC News broadcasts
This Week with George Stephanopoulos and Nightline UpClose.
Mr. Bettag is the recipient of six duPont-Columbia University Silver
Batons, three Overseas Press Club Awards and 30 Emmys, among many other
accolades. Nightline was recognized in 2002 with a Peabody Award for Broadcast
Journalism, citing over 20 years of excellence in long-form presentations.
Prior to joining ABC News in May 1991, Mr. Bettag spent 22 years at CBS
News, serving as executive producer of CBS Evening News With Dan Rather from
1986 to 1991. During his tenure as Evening News executive producer, Mr. Bettag
spearheaded the network's critically acclaimed coverage of the Chinese student
uprising in May, 1989 and along with Mr. Rather, gained the first television
interview with Saddam Hussein after the invasion of Kuwait.
From 1984 to 1986 Mr. Bettag served as senior broadcast producer of the
CBS Evening News. Previously he was senior political producer for CBS News'
coverage of "Campaign '84," and senior producer of CBS Evening News from 1982
to 1983. He served as producer for 60 Minutes from 1981 to 1982, and as an
associate producer for CBS Evening News from 1977 to 1981. Prior to joining
the CBS Evening News he was broadcast producer of CBS Morning News. Mr.
Bettag joined CBS News as an assignment editor based in Washington in 1969.
A native of Rockford, Michigan, Mr. Bettag received a BA degree in history
from the University of Notre Dame in 1966, and an MS degree from the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism in 1967. He resides in Washington,
DC. He and his wife, Claire, have two sons, Carl and Andrew.
Discovery Communications, Inc. is the leading global real-world media and
entertainment company. Discovery has grown from its core property, the
Discovery Channel, first launched in the United States in 1985, to current
global operations in more than 160 countries and territories with 1.3 billion
cumulative subscribers. DCI's over 90 networks of distinctive programming
represent 25 network entertainment brands including TLC, Animal Planet, Travel
Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times Channel,
The Science Channel, Military Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery en
Espanol, Discovery Kids En Espanol, Discovery HD Theater, FitTV, Discovery
Travel & Living (Viajar y Vivir), Discovery Home & Health and Discovery Real
Time. DCI's other properties consist of Discovery Education and Discovery
Commerce, which operates 120 Discovery Channel Stores. DCI also distributes
BBC America in the United States. DCI's ownership consists of four
shareholders: Discovery Holding Company (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB), Cox
Communications, Inc., Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks,
the Company's Founder and Chairman.
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SOURCE Discovery Communications, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.discovery.com
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Hillman of Discovery
Communications, +1-240-662-2664
NOTE TO EDITORS: There will be a media conference call discussing
the announcement today at 1:30pm EST with Koppel, Bettag and DCI
executives. To participate in the conference call and Q&A please
dial 1-800-857-2751; passcode: DISCOVERY.
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