ABC 2000 Today

ABC 2000 Today
File:2018/03/2.png
Presented by	Peter Jennings Barbara Walters Diane Sawyer Charles Gibson Elizabeth Vargas Jack Ford Sam Donaldson Connie Chung Cokie Roberts Deborah Roberts Carole Simpson Morton Dean Dick Clark
Theme music composer	Gavin Greenaway
Opening theme	IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production locations	Times Square Studios, Manhattan, New York (Primary)
Running time	23 hours 10 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	December 31, 1999 – January 1, 2000

Nearly everybody gets his or her data about world, national, and nearby undertakings from the broad communications. This reality gives both print and communicates news coverage vital capacities that incorporate impacting popular feeling, deciding the political plan, giving a connection between the administration and the general population, going about as an administration guard dog, and influencing socialization. ABC Today is a specialty channel which presents a wide variety of news on the Politics, Investigation, Sports, economy, finance, business and incisive analysis of global financial markets, Entertainments, Health, Weather and technology. ABC Today News is Canada’s 24-hour news channel. The channel provides breaking news, live event coverage, in-depth analysis, and current affairs programming. The broad communications not just report the consequences of general supposition studies directed by outside associations yet additionally progressively fuse their own surveys into their news scope. More imperative, daily papers and TV help shape popular assessment also. Research has demonstrated that the positions Americans go up against basic issues are affected by the media, particularly when the media air disparate perspectives and give top to bottom examination. Revaluation of media tries to associate everybody with the mind boggling miracles of universes facts and reality. We will take you on an exciting adventure of revelation, from the littlest things to the boundless field of room. USA Today conveys you eye to eye with heart-beating activity, awe-inspiring thoughts and the ponder of being human. ABC Today News push limits, consolidating creative ability with innovation, to make astonishing better approaches to open your eyes to the stunning scene. ABC Today News has physical nearness in every single significant city of Canada alongside an across the nation system of journalists and reporters. This profound attached nearness enables us to convey to you the most recent news from the length and broadness of the nation. Our point of the genuine portrayal of a positive and prosperous Canada inspires us to convey to you the present happenings that issue to you and that are near your heart. Where the gathering of people gets the data that is being communicated, and that data as it were. As ABC Today News created, some of the time from a similar news organization e.g. News Corp. were made to fulfill groups of onlookers in reconnaissance in Uses and Gratifications, as well as through Hierarchy of Needs survival, security, social having a place, confidence and self actualization.

Correspondents and guests

Jack Ford was stationed in Times Square throughout the broadcast, and was also joined by entertainer Dick Clark (the creator and host of his namesake New Year's Rockin' Eve, which did not air due to ABC 2000) as a correspondent to conduct his traditional countdown. Other correspondents were Charles Gibson in London, Diane Sawyer in New York, Barbara Walters in Paris, Sam Donaldson at the Y2K Command Center in Washington, Connie Chung in Las Vegas, Deborah Roberts at Walt Disney World, Morton Dean in Moscow, and literally hundreds of others at ABC News, technicians and newsmen, who worked throughout the day to bring the broadcast. Those hundreds of others included ABC News personalities stationed around the world to cover the new year in every time zone, including Elizabeth Vargas in Sydney, Australia, Cokie Roberts at the Vatican, with her mother, the then U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Carole Simpson in Chicago, and Bob Brown, who narrated many segments consolidating the day's events. Local stations also featured their own coverage during time local breaks, which varied from traditional breaks for local news and weather to full-scale coverage of local countdowns and possible Y2K bug effects (which in ABC and local coverage, eventually became minimal as little to any issues came out of that).

ABC had a total of more than 1,000 members of their news division part of the broadcast. They were all under the direction of ABC's Roger Goodman.

Guests included famed Australian comedian Dame Edna, David Blane, and comedian Al Franken. Musical performances included the Bee Gees, Neil Diamond, Faith Hill, Enrique Iglesias, Kenny G, Charlotte Church, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Bonnie Raitt, *NSYNC, James Taylor, Christina Aguilera (who performed at the MTV studios across the street), Aerosmith, and Phish. Phish's appearance was live via satellite from their Big Cypress festival, performing their song "Heavy Things". The only affiliate that did not carry the event was WRIC-TV in Richmond, Virginia.

Broadcast highlights

ABC News's stage in Times Square.

Originally, the name of the broadcast was ABC 2000, but it was officially retitled as ABC 2000 Today because ABC joined 60 other nations, all celebrating the dawn of the new millennium. The network was part of the 2000 Today consortium that included PBS, WGBH-TV, the BBC in the United Kingdom, ABC in Australia, TV Asahi in Japan, GMA Network in the Philippines, RTL in Germany, and the CBC in Canada. (The program was nonetheless consistently promoted under the ABC 2000 name, possibly to avoid confusion with the U.S. morning show Today, which airs on rival network NBC.)

This was by far the most comprehensive coverage of any of the broadcast networks. By contrast, CBS had hourly updates throughout the day with Dan Rather, a special 8 pm edition of the Late Show with David Letterman and from 10pm-1am, Will Smith hosted America's Millennium. Dan Rather reported live from Times Square during those hours, with additional coverage from Washington, DC. It was the only time since 1996 that CBS offered live New Year coverage. NBC had an extended edition of The Today Show, Dateline NBC at 8 pm, Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric anchored NBC's millennium coverage starting at 9 pm and lasting until 3 am and encompassing a special edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, who took part in the millennium celebrations in Los Angeles.

Peter Jennings stayed on the air for the entire duration without a break using only commercial breaks and correspondent pieces to rest, eat, or change suits. He changed his wardrobe four times, including wearing a tuxedo when the ball was dropping at Times Square, and a sweater at the end of the ABC 2000 Today broadcast.

At least 175 million Americans tuned into some portion of ABC 2000 Today. The broadcast won a Peabody Award.

The theme music for ABC 2000 Today (which was also used for ABC News' election coverage that year) was from Epcot's IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth live show. The music was composed by Gavin Greenaway, who won an Emmy award for the work. Footage of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth were shown in the opening and closing sequences.

Follow-up

ABC News also used Times Square Studios for ABC News's 2000 election coverage ABC 2000: The Vote, with the studio set up very similar to the ABC 2000 Today studio set up, except the large screen was used to show the map of the United States with all the red and blue states.

ABC 2000 Today was succeeded by the three and a half hour special ABC 2002 on December 31, 2001, which was also hosted by Peter Jennings at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in the American Museum of Natural History.

See also

• 2000 Today

External links

• ABC News Store: 2000 Today [dead link]
• ABC 2000 Today Opening on YouTube
• ABC 2000 Today Closing on YouTube
• ABC 2000 Today at IMDb