Amanpour is out
at ABC's 'This Week'
Stephanopoulos returns as host of the Sunday show after ratings slide
By Bill Cromwell
Dec 14, 2011
With her extensive experience in foreign rather than domestic reporting, Christiane Amanpour always seemed an odd choice to host ABC's public affairs show, "This Week."
Ultimately it wasn't a good fit.
Amanpour is out as host of "This Week," and she's being replaced by George Stephanopoulos, who had hosted the show until late 2009, when he moved over to "Good Morning America."
Stephanopoulos will pull double duty for the network starting next month, continuing his hosting duties at "GMA," which is coming off its best November sweeps ratings in six years, and hosting "This Week" during the crucial presidential election year.
Amanpour will return to CNN, where she had been the network's premier international correspondent. She will host a program on CNN International, but she will not leave ABC entirely.
She will become the network's global affairs anchor, but she'll continue to contribute to various ABC News programs.
The change ends a brief experiment with broadening "This Week's" focus beyond domestic affairs that ultimately proved Americans aren't too interested in international affairs, even when those affairs include big stories like the Arab spring and Japanese natural disasters.
Amanpour is very smart and an excellent reporter. But audiences did not warm to her in the hosting role and were apparently turned off by her focus on foreign policy, despite scoops like February's interview with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak just before he left power.
"This Week," which had been the No. 2 Sunday morning show behind NBC's "Meet the Press" during Stephanopoulos' tenure, had slipped behind CBS's "Face the Nation" over recent months, and ABC apparently did not foresee that changing.
On Dec. 4, the most recent data available from Nielsen, "This Week" averaged 2.26 million total viewers, 1 million fewer than "Nation."
With the U.S. heading into a presidential election year that will be closely covered by the Sunday morning shows, rumors have been swirling for several months that the network might make a change at "This Week."
In truth, Stephanopoulos never wanted to leave his original show. Two years ago ABC did not want him splitting time between the shows when "GMA" was in a precarious ratings position, with longtime co-host Diane Sawyer leaving to anchor "World News."
Now, with Stephanopoulos settled in at "GMA" and its audience rising, adding to his workload seems less risky.
The move should make Stephanopoulos happy. He has continued to remain involved in political reporting during his "GMA" tenure and still doesn't seem quite as comfortable with the light banter of morning news.
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