The Walt Disney Company 2003 Annual Report
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MEDIA NETWORKS - BROADCAST
ABC News
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ABC Entertainment
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With signature programs such as Good Morning America, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline, Primetime Thursday and 20/20, ABC News continues to set the broadcast standard for news and information in television.

Over the past five years, Good Morning America has grown 24 percent among adults 25-54. At the conclusion of the 2002-03 season, World News Tonight had narrowed the gap with its competition, NBC Nightly News, by nearly 90 percent in adults 25-54 from the
previous year.

Throughout the 2002-03 season, newsmaker interviews by Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters on Primetime Thursday and 20/20, with such celebrities as the Osbournes, Jennifer Lopez and Whitney Houston – as well as the Michael Jackson special – enabled the two programs to record the top-five-ranked primetime newsmagazine telecasts of the season among adults 18-49, and the top-three-ranked among total viewers. This past fall, the shows and their distinguished hosts continued to attract headliners and audiences alike with exclusive interviews with U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch and Martha Stewart.

In May 2003 Nightline, anchored by Ted Koppel, delivered its best May sweeps performance in three years among total viewers and adults 25-54. This season the late-night staple was honored with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and the Alfred I. duPont Award for a five-part series on the war in Congo, Heart of Darkness. The Survivors, Nightline’s report on two victims of the September 11 attack on the Pentagon, also won the Peabody Award.

In the fall, a new Monday night edition of Primetime premiered. This season will also see the return of ABC News’ critically acclaimed courtroom series, State v. and NYPD 24-hour, a new program that takes an “unlimited access” look at the New York Police Department.

ABC News continues to expand its brand with new ventures such as ABC News Live on AOL, the first 24-hour streaming news network with hourly updates and anchored coverage of breaking news on the Internet, which launched in spring 2003. ABC News programming is now available to some 35 million online viewers thanks to multi-year deals with the leaders in broadband and digital information, including RealNetworks, AOL for Broadband and Yahoo! ABC News’ own Web site, ABCNEWS.com, has grown in subscription revenues and new initiatives, and marked its first full year of profitability in Fiscal Year 2003.

For Election Year 2004, ABC News will bring the American public unparalleled reporting on the candidates, issues and campaigns. ABC News Radio, which reached an estimated weekly audience of 89 million people in 2003, will also offer “wall-to-wall” reporting from the campaign trail and conventions, and on Election Night 2004.


Martha Stewart tells Barbara Walters, I am innocent," in an exclusive 20/20 interview, which aired on Nov. 7, 2003.
Martha Stewart tells Barbara Walters, I am innocent," in an exclusive 20/20 interview, which aired on Nov. 7, 2003.
Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer broadcast live from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as part of ABC News’year-long project, “50 States: One Nation, One Year.”
Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer broadcast live from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as part of ABC News’year-long project, “50 States: One Nation, One Year.”
Peter Jennings talks to soldiers preparing for battle on the Iraqi border as part of ABC News’coverage of the war in Iraq.
Peter Jennings talks to soldiers preparing for battle on the Iraqi border as part of ABC News’coverage of the war in Iraq.
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