ABC Couldn’t Get Letterman but Koppel Does--as a Guest

ABC News’ Ted Koppel kicked off the new “Nightline UpClose” late-night show Monday with what he called an irony, but others might call a dig at his employer. Referring to his inaugural guest, Koppel noted: “They wanted Letterman, so here he is.”

Koppel, of course, would have lost his job as anchor of “Nightline” had ABC succeeded earlier this year in wooing comedian David Letterman away from CBS, an episode Koppel referred to Monday night as the “recent unpleasantness.” Instead, Letterman stayed at CBS, and agreed to be Koppel’s first guest for “UpClose,” which inhabits the post-”Nightline” slot (formerly held by “Politically Incorrect”) until Jimmy Kimmel’s new show premieres in January.

In the interview with Koppel, taped June 26, Letterman said he had always expected that he would finish his career at CBS, but the attention from ABC--executives flying in unannounced (bearing gifts from their children), calls from Paris--became seductive and he began to think, “Maybe they know something I don’t know.”

But while he listened to ABC seriously, Letterman said that on a practical level he probably couldn’t have made the move. “I’m really quite comfortable [at CBS],” he said, and would have found it difficult to go elsewhere at a point in his life when comfort is “far more important than undertaking a new challenge.”

Now that Koppel’s standing at ABC is again secured, his challenge is to maintain ratings for “Nightline” as an alternative to the entertainment competition on the other networks. In the second quarter, which ended June 30, “Nightline” finished third in its time period, according to Nielsen Media Research, with an average 4.19 million viewers to 4.36 million for the first half-hour of Letterman’s “Late Show” and 6.49 million for NBC’s “Tonight” show.

“UpClose” is airing following “Nightline” through Jan. 24.