ITV

Tag: Barbara Walters

  • Nominations for 33rd Daytime Emmies announced

    Nominations for 33rd Daytime Emmies announced

    MUMBAI: The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the US has announced the nominees for the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. The announcement was made live on ABC Daytime’s The View, hosted by Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones Reynolds, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

    CBS topped with 59 nominations. ABC had 37 nominations. Its game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire got three nominations. The awards recognise outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from 2 am to 6 pm.

    US pubcaster PBS had 21 nominations including one for the animtion show Arthur and another for Jakers The Adventures of Piggley Winks which is made in India by Crest Animation.

    The nominations for drama series are CBS’ As The World Turns, ABC’s General Hospital, The Young And The Restless and CBS’ Guiding Light which has the distinction of being the world’s longest running soap.

    For best talk show the nominees are Dr. Phil, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Live With Regis and Kelly and The View.

    This year’s ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC on 28 April from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.

  • Barbara Walters’ special on the Oscars celebrates 25 years on ABC

    MUMBAI: Television personality Barbara Walters’ 25th annual Academy Awards special will air on 1 March 2006 on US broadcaster ABC.
    The special will air five days prior to the Oscars, as the Academy Awards are scheduled to begin 30 minutes earlier than in years past. Walters says, “I am very pleased that the special will be seen across the country at the same time of night. And being seen earlier in the week gives us much more flexibility than in the past in terms of guests,”
    ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson says, “We have been wanting to expand the celebration of the Oscars for some time, and moving Barbara’s special to Wednesday as part of our strategy for the February Sweep makes it the true national kick-off event for the Awards broadcast. Her specials are always star studded and glamorous, now they’ll signal that even more is on the way.” 
    In India the Oscars will air on Star Movies on 6 March 2006. Should the Indian entry Morning Raaga be nominated in the foreign film category one can expect viewership to go up.

  • ABC News’ Barbara Walters to open Promax&BDA 2004

    ABC News’ Barbara Walters to open Promax&BDA 2004

    MUMBAI: Promax&BDA has announced that ABC News’ Barbara Walters will open the organisation’s 49th annual conference with an address and her career spanning perspective on the changing role of promotion on television.

    Additionally, organisers this week announced that the cast from last Sunday night’s Tony Award winning Best Musical Avenue Q will appear at Promax to reprise their show-stopping number performed during the Tony ceremony at Radio City.

    Chief executive officer Promax&BDA Jim Chabin said, “Our theme this year is “Whatever it Takes”, a mantra that has been demonstrated by both Barbara Walters and the cast of Avenue Q. I am thrilled that Ms Walters, a respected journalist and producer, wants to share her opinions on the power of promotion with our membership. She has a stellar track record of going the extra mile in pursuit of her subjects as well as asking tough questions and we are all anxious to hear her thoughts. Likewise, the cast of Avenue Q surprised many in the theatre community with its three Tony wins this year and we are pleased they have accepted our invitation to be part of our program. And these two major attractions are just the highlights of what promises to be our most exciting conference to date.”

    In addition to Walters’ extended presence, this year’s Promax&BDA has drawn participation from the top names in the television and media world including NBC’s Brian Williams, MTV’s Judy McGrath, Oxygen Media’s Gerry Laybourne and Viacom’s Dennis Swanson, as well as entrepreneur Russell Simmons, The New York Times’ Stuart Elliott and Vanity Fair / Court TV contributor Dominick Dunne among others.

    Initially Walters was slated to be honored as one of the winners of the Television Century Award. In her discussions with Promax&BDA organisers however, Walters wanted to take the opportunity to offer a speech on the importance of promotion in today’s fragmented entertainment world. Launched originally in May 2003, the Promax&BDA Television Century Awards were created as an annual award to honor television’s elite for their contributions to building brands.

    In addition to Walters, the ABC News correspondent, correspondent and anchor of ABC News 20/20 and The Barbara Walters Specials; and co-host and executive producer of ABC Daytime’s The View, Dennis Swanson EVP, chief operating officer, Viacom Television Stations Group and Judy McGrath, MTV Networks group president, will also receive the award.

    Avenue Q – the hip, low-tech, puppet populated musical, surprised the world when it won the Tony Award for Best Musical defeating the heavily favored Oz fantasy Wicked. Avenue Q also won Best Original Score (Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx) as well as Best Book of a Musical (Jeff Whitty).

    Called “the most fun on the stage this year” by The New Yorker, Avenue Q opened off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in March 2003 where it gained rave reviews and was extended four times. It won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Musical as well as a nomination for the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical award.

  • ABC to reduce comedy shows

    ABC to reduce comedy shows

    MUMBAI: Bringing an extreme makeover of its primetime schedule for next season, ABC network is expected to reduce its comedy programme strength from 10 shows to eight.

    The schedule will also include four hours of reality programing, including the newcomer Wife Swap.

    The network is said to be relying on reality series Wife Swap, based on a British format about two mothers who swap households. Freshman drama Life as We Know It is scheduled for the 9 pm. slot, while newsmagazine Primetime Thursday will be aired at 10 p.m.

    ABC News will have Elizabeth Vargas as co-anchor with John Stossel of 20/20, replacing Barbara Walters. Walters had revealed her plans to step down in January.

  • Bashir expected to join ABC in million dollar deal

    Bashir expected to join ABC in million dollar deal

    MUMBAI: ABC is looking across the Atlantic in a bid to spice things up. The network is reported to have signed a deal with British TV interviewer Martin Bashir. Bashir shot into the limelight recently over his controversial interview with pop star Michael Jackson.
    A report in Media Guardian indicated that the deal is worth one million pounds. His contract with Granada expires in July after which he will relocate to the US. He will work as an investigative reporter for ABC News. He is also expected to play an important role in the interview show 20/20. As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com Barbara Walters who has been hosting the show for many years will step down later this year.
    Another report indicated that the above mentioned documentary Living With Michael Jackson was purchased by the broadcaster for around $five million. It got an average of 27 million viewers in its first run. The show was watched by 14 million viewers on ITV1 in February last year. In India the documentary aired on Star World.
    However the spokesman for ABC News Jeffrey Schneider refused to confirm or deny the news. He said, “Martin Bashir is a talented journalist who would be a great addition to any newsroom. But we have no further comment.”
    Last year he had done a documentary which looked at the cheating controversy over the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The ‘coughing’ controversy which happened in 2001 involved a British colonel. Apparently several broadcasters were in the fray as Bashir had been looking to work in the US.

  • Walters calls it a day on ABC’s ’20/20′ after 25 years

    Walters calls it a day on ABC’s ’20/20′ after 25 years

    MUMBAI: This is a big moment in the annals of American television. Anchor Barbara Walters who has done memorable interviews on ABC’s 20/20 with the likes of Monica Lewinsky, Cuban President Fidel Castro, actor Christopher Reeve after his riding accident is stepping down as the show’s host after 25 years.
    A report in eonline indicates that from September she will cut back on her work schedule to six news specials a year for ABC News. This will include her annual Oscar special.
    Walters issued a statement saying that the decision had been taken as she was looking for a greater degree of flexibility in her life. The report adds that her March 1999 interview with Lewinsky attracted 48.5 million viewers. An AP report stated that 20/20 is often done with a soft-focus camera and features teary subjects.
    Walters was concerned about the fact that people were more interested in seeing celebrities and people from the showbiz arena. She once told the New York Times, “We did Castro and it was a huge interview. But we did much better in the ratings with Courteney Cox and David Arquette.”
    In 1990 Walters was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. The 74 year old has been in front of the cameras since 1963 when she became the co-host of NBC’s Today Show.

  • ABC News lands exclusive Martha Stewart interview

    LOS ANGLES: Domestic diva Martha Stewart has described her fears in an exclusive interview with ABCNews’ Barbara Walters. The wide-ranging interview addresses the controversy around Stewart as she prepares to go to trial and will air on ABCNews’ 20/20 in early November.


    Martha Stewart talks with ABCNews’ Barbara Walters (Pic courtesy: www.abcnews.go.com)In her only interview since being indicted for her sale of ImClone stock, and before going to trial in January 2004, Stewart tells Walters, “Who wouldn’t be scared? Of course I’m scared. The last place I would ever want to go is prison. And I don’t think I will be going to prison, though.” However ABC News did not make a transcript of Walters’ interview but released only one quote from her remarks.
    Stewart and broker Peter Bacanovic were charged in a nine-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil securities fraud lawsuit against the pair, accusing them of illegal insider trading.
    The lifestyles maven had been under investigation for selling almost 4,000 shares of ImClone in December 2001, shortly before the Food and Drug Administration rejected the company’s application for approval of a colon cancer drug. The FDA rejection sent ImClone’s stock plummeting.
    Criminal charges against Stewart include making false statements, and obstruction of justice. Charges against Bacanovic include perjury and obstruction, according to a statement from the US attorney’s office in Manhattan. Stewart has not been charged with perjury.
    Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker pleaded not guilty on 4 June 2003, to the charges stemming from her sale of the stock. Stewart stepped down as CEO of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., which publishes her magazine and a line of home products for the Kmart retail chain, in June, but remains on the board.
    The Stewart segment is touted as the first broadcast TV interview she has granted since her June indictment on obstruction of justice charges and the only one she plans to give before she goes on trial in January. She has denied any wrongdoing.
    Stewart is a close friend of former ImClone chief executive Sam Waksal, who was sentenced in June to 87 months in prison for tax evasion and his role in the insider trading case.
    Last month, ABC scored another journalistic coup by landing the first prime-time network interview with Jessica Lynch, the former Army private who was taken prisoner, badly wounded and later rescued during the US war in Iraq. That interview, with Diane Sawyer, is slated to air on 11 November.