This Week (ABC TV series)

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For other series of this name, see This Week.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos
Thisweek.jpg
Format News
Created by Roone Arledge
Starring George Stephanopoulos (panelist 1997-2002; anchor 2002-2010)[1]
Sam Donaldson (co-anchor 1996-2002; panelist 1981-1996 and 2002-present)
Cokie Roberts (co-anchor 1996-2002; panelist 1988-1996 and 2002-present)
George Will (panelist 1981-present)
David Brinkley (anchor 1981-1996)
Country of origin  United States
No. of episodes N/A
Production
Location(s) Newseum (2008-present)
Washington, D.C.
Running time 1 hour
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
720p (HDTV)
Original run November 15, 1981 (As This Week with David Brinkley) – present
External links
Official website
US Sunday Morning Talk Shows
Networks
ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos
CBS Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer
Fox Fox News Sunday w/ Chris Wallace
NBC Meet the Press with David Gregory
Cable
CNN State of the Union with John King
Spanish Networks
Uni Al Punto

This Week with George Stephanopoulos is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.[2]

The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones. ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos has been the host since 2002. However, there's going to be a new host, as he has been named co-host of Good Morning America replacing Diane Sawyer, who is replacing Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC World News.[1]

Contents

[edit] Hosts

In 1960, ABC's Sunday talk show was launched as Issues and Answers. One of its early hosts was Howard K. Smith, who also had his own prime-time public affairs program Howard K. Smith: News and Comment in the 1962-1963 season. Another host was Bob Clark.

In November 15, 1981, David Brinkley came to the network from NBC and took over the show, which was renamed This Week. During Brinkley's run, three major sponsors were part of the show: General Electric, Archer Daniels Midland and Merrill Lynch. The names of the regular hosts have been included in the billing for the program, such as This Week with David Brinkley. After Brinkley retired in December 8, 1996, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts co-hosted. George Stephanopoulos became the host in September 15, 2002.

[edit] Key features

One of the key features of This Week is the Roundtable, which includes pundits such as George Will and ABC News correspondents such as Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, and other guests discussing the major issues of the week. Will, a regular panelist since the program's start with David Brinkley, sometimes contributes short reports to the broadcast.

Other key features include The List, which includes "voices" and "images" segments (often combined into one), which spotlight a notable newsmaker; the Sunday Funnies, excerpts of jokes from late-night television programs from the previous week, and In Memoriam, a selection of prominent deaths from politics, business, and culture, and a listing of all reported military deaths from that week.

On April 20, 2008, This Week began broadcasting from the Newseum in Washington D.C. in a studio that overlooks the U.S. Capitol. In addition, the program became available in high definition for the first time in the program's history, also becoming the first Sunday morning talk show in high definition.[3] Since this transition, the broadcast no longer includes 'Voices' or 'Images'; however, it still shows 'In Memoriam' and 'The Sunday Funnies'.

In February, 2009, the gap between "Meet the Press" and its competitors — CBS' "Face The Nation" and ABC's "This Week" — began closing. "Meet the Press" posted its lowest ratings since NBC's David Gregory became moderator in early February, with the show airing Sunday, Feb. 1 averaging just 3.9 million viewers. "Face The Nation" averaged 3.33 million total viewers, while "This Week" came in just behind with 3.32 million total viewers. "This Week" beat "Meet the Press" on January 11, when George Stephanopoulos interviewed President-Elect Barack Obama. [4]

[edit] International broadcasts

ABC News programming, including This Week is shown weekly on the twenty-four hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. In Australia it airs on Sky News Australia, in Japan on NHK & in New Zealand on TVNZ 7.

[edit] Moderators

[edit] Regular panelists

With the exception of George Will, who is currently a fixed member of the Roundtable, the following is a list of some of the regular panelists who appear each week, typically 3-4 at a time (not including the moderator), with varying frequency:

[edit] This Week in HD

This Week began broadcasting in High Definition in 2008.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References