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GeezerVison is showing en.wikipedia.org — ABC 2000 Today - Wikipedia
ABC 2000 (officially ABC 2000 Today) is ABC News' special programming covering the Millennium celebrations around the world from December 31, 1999, into January 1, 2000, as part of the worldwide consortium 2000 Today programming in the United States. ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings hosted the program from the Times Square Studios in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It ran 23 hours and 10 minutes, signing on at 4:50 am ET on December 31, 1999 and concluding at 4:00 am ET on January 1, 2000 (two hours earlier from its international counterparts). ABC temporarily converted the Good Morning America Times Square Studios into a type of "millennium command center" that included an anchor desk, where a standing Jennings spent most of his time and two lounge chairs, where Jennings would interview guests. A large video screen included a time-zone map of the world, a wall of clocks, and a makeshift newsroom where ABC News staffers would follow the latest developments, particularly if there were any Y2K problems. The windows of the studio directly overlooked Times Square, the traditional center of New Year's Eve celebrations in New York. Since worldwide Y2K issues proved minimal, as the day progressed, the coverage shifted largely to "more party than news".[3] Correspondents and guests Jack Ford was stationed at street level in Times Square throughout the broadcast. He was joined in the 11 p.m. (eastern) hour by entertainer Dick Clark (the creator and host of his namesake New Year's Rockin' Eve, which did not air due to ABC 2000 being shown instead). Clark reported from the tenth floor of the Marriott Marquis hotel, to conduct his traditional countdown of the Times Square Ball drop. Featured correspondents included: Barbara Walters in Paris, Diane Sawyer in New York, Charles Gibson in London, Cokie Roberts in Rome, Elizabeth Vargas in Sydney, Connie Chung in Las Vegas, Deborah Roberts in Orlando, Carole Simpson in Chicago, and Sam Donaldson at the Y2K Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. More than thirty additional ABC News correspondents were stationed around the world to cover the new year in nearly every time zone. The broadcast was directed by Roger Goodman and included more than 1,000 technicians and members of the news division.[4] In-studio guests included famed Australian comedian Barry Humphries in character as Dame Edna, David Blane, Al Franken, Rudy Giuliani, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Longtime ABC anchor Howard K. Smith was interviewed via telephone, as was Alan Alda, and former president Gerald Ford. Musical performances included: Billy Joel, Elton John, Enrique Iglesias, Faith Hill, 'N Sync, Phish, the Bee Gees, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, Harry Connick Jr., Kenny G, Ray Charles, Barry Manilow, and Barbra Streisand. The performances by the Bee Gees, Phish, Charlotte Church, and Kenny G were selected to appear in the international 2000 Today program. Broadcast highlightsPlanning for what would become ABC 2000 started in late 1998.[5] Dick Clark shared preliminary plans during the December 31, 1998 – January 1, 1999 episode of New Year's Rockin' Eve:
In March 1999, ABC announced their official plans for the ABC 2000 program. It was to feature 27 hours of coverage, anchored by Peter Jennings (it was later reduced to 23 hours and 10 minutes). For the first time since its premiere in 1972, New Year's Rockin' Eve would not air. However, according to ABC News president David Westin, Dick Clark would "have some role in the New Year's special".[6] Originally, the name of the broadcast was ABC 2000, but it was officially and formally 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. See also: 2000 Today § Participating broadcasters
The program was nonetheless consistently promoted and broadcast under the ABC 2000 title, possibly to avoid confusion with the U.S. morning show Today, which airs on rival network NBC. The theme music for ABC 2000 (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. Taped footage of the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth show were shown in the opening and closing sequences. Along with the multitude of celebrations, the news division was also prepared to report on any Y2K problems. Sam Donaldson and James Walker headed up those tasks. Walker was stationed in New Zealand, which would be the first industrialized and highly-populated nation to see midnight; it was expected to serve as a "litmus test" for the rest of the developed world. Coverage signed on Friday, December 31, 1999 at 4:50 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (9:50 UTC), ten minutes prior to the first midnight on the globe at Millennium Island in Kiribati (UTC+14:00). Peter Jennings anchored the coverage for the entire duration, using commercial breaks, affiliate breaks, correspondent pieces, and pre-taped segments to rest, eat, or change outfits. He changed his wardrobe five times. He opened the broadcast wearing a brown business suit and tie. He changed to a black suit at 12 noon, followed by a dark gray suit around 4 p.m., and a dark blue suit and red tie around 7 p.m. for the primetime portion. He then wore a tuxedo and bow tie during the midnight hour in Times Square, followed by a more casual green sweater for the final three hours of the broadcast.[7] Midnight was specifically shown in 17 time zones, including three 30 minute offset time zones, and one 45 minute offset time zone. ABC correspondents covered 14 of the midnight milestones in-person, while the rest were simulcast from one of the other 2000 Today networks. The final midnight celebration shown was that of the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−08:00), which included California. Once the culminating celebrations in Times Square settled down, the final three hours covered the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones, but were also filled with several concert look-ins (whether live or pre-taped), live performances, and pre-taped highlight segments. The broadcast signed off Saturday January 1, 2000 at 4:00 a.m. Eastern (09:00 UTC). No coverage of midnight was shown of the remaining three time zones, which included Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, and parts of Polynesia east of the International Date Line. While ABC ended their coverage in the United States, other 2000 Today networks continued airing for an additional two hours until the final millennium celebration in Samoa. A digital on-screen clock was used in the bottom-right corner of the screen through much of the broadcast, showing local time and/or a countdown to midnight during each correspondents' report. Live chats were organized on ABCNews.com. Breaks were taken near the top and bottom of each hour to allow the local ABC affiliates time for local coverage, which varied from local news and weather to full-scale coverage of local countdowns and possible Y2K bug effects (which were minimal).[8] Follow-upsAfter signing off ABC 2000 at 4 a.m. eastern, the ABC network sent the air time back to the affiliates for a few hours. At 8 a.m. eastern, the network came back on with a three-hour wrap-up special titled Dawn of a New Era hosted by Sam Donaldson from Washington, D.C. The program featured highlights from the entire day and the latest developments, and was picked up by some affiliates.[9] Coverage on ABC then shifted to the Rose Parade followed by New Year's Day college football bowl games. Reruns of highlights aired a day later during the Sunday morning talk shows, and sporadically over the next several days. Later that year, ABC News also used the Times Square Studios for ABC News's 2000 election coverage ABC 2000: The Vote, with the studio set up very similar to that of ABC 2000. The large video screen was used to show the Electoral College map of the United States with the red and blue states indicated.[10] On December 31, 2001 (leading into 2002), ABC preceded the primetime hour of New Year's Rockin' Eve with a follow-up special titled ABC 2002. The three-and-a-half-hour special featured a "meaningful and reflective" view on New Year's celebrations from around the world (especially in the wake of the September 11 attacks), and performances by Arlo Guthrie, Sting, and U2. It was hosted by Jennings from the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City.[11] ReceptionABC 2000 was by far the most comprehensive New Year's coverage of any of the three major broadcast networks in the United States,[12] and was named one of the best television programs of the year.[13] By contrast, CBS aired only 30-second news updates each hour throughout the day with Dan Rather, a special 8 p.m. edition of the Late Show with David Letterman and from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET, Rather and Will Smith hosted America's Millennium live from Times Square and Washington D.C. respectively. NBC had an extended edition of The Today Show, Dateline NBC at 8 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. ET, Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric anchored NBC's millennium coverage, which included a special edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, from Los Angeles. PBS, meanwhile, aired Millennium 2000, which was a basic simulcast of the worldwide 2000 Today consortium footage.[3][14][15] Cable network CNN had all-day news coverage, and highlighted several smaller celebrations.[16] With the lack of Y2K problems, ABC 2000's coverage shifted largely to "more party than news".[3] Sam Donaldson, who was assigned to the Y2K Coordination Center in Washington, D.C., was ultimately called on sparingly. At one point in the evening, an unflustered Donaldson proclaimed simply "nothing going on", quipping humorously that the only issue domestically thus far was slot machines in Delaware shutting off for a brief period of time.[17] The primetime portion of the broadcast registered a 10.6 rating, and average of 18.6 million viewers.[18] The broadcast peaked from 11:15 p.m. to midnight (eastern) with a 16.1 rating/30 share. At least 175 million viewers tuned into some portions of ABC 2000,[19] and ABC easily defeated both CBS and NBC for the night. The broadcast won two News and Documentary Emmy Awards,[20][21] a Peabody Award,[22][23] a TCA Award,[24] and was nominated for a DGA Award.[25] Highlights of the telecast were released on VHS titled ABC 2000 The New Millennium Highlights.[26] Reflecting on the event, Dick Clark was enthusiastic about his participation, feeling that it was one of the biggest nights he had ever spent in Times Square.[27] ABC 2000 Hour-by-hour overviewReferences
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