ABC News' hopes for stability following the death of long-time anchor Peter Jennings came to a crashing halt earlier this year.
Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas had been named the successors to the late Jennings. Executives at ABC had branded them the new face of the evening flagship, ready to compete in the increasingly fragmented news world. Both were youthful, energetic and just the shot in the arm the news division was hoping would propel it back to the #1 ratings it enjoyed in the early to mid nineties.
Only a month into the duo's tenure, however, tragedy struck. Woodruff, on assignment in Iraq, was severely injured by an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED). The extent of the injuries remains unclear to this day. Aside from a picture released by ABC News of its co-anchor in a "World News Tonight" cap (taken right after his transfer out of the hospital into a rehabilitation facility), nothing else has given a glimpse into the severity of the incident.
Being in broadcasting for the better part of a decade, I've come to realize one thing: Silence speaks volumes. No one heard from Dick Clark until a year after his stroke, when the 'Never Aging Teenager' shockingly stunned his fans and new years' revilers ringing in 2006 with a profoundly slurred speech impediment.
While one has to appreciate Clark's courage in attempting his comeback, many viewers found the image of the disabled Clark disturbing and unsettling on an evening which is usually marked for celebration.
Don't misunderstand me: we have no way of knowing if Woodruff even has a speech impediment. But we do know this: Something is wrong.
Very wrong.
One can only assume it may be months, if not years, until Woodruff would be ready to resume the rigors of anchoring the most prominent news vehicle on ABC's schedule.
Enter the dilemma for ABC: How to stabilize a newscast which has been spinning out of control since Jennings first announced he was leaving the broadcast to focus on his battle with cancer in April 2005.
Woodruff's partner in all of this, Elisabeth Vargas, picked up the torch and mantle of the newscast which carried both of their names. Graciously, she signed off each newscast with "For Bob Woodruff, I'm Elisabeth Vargas ..."
The sentiment was warm and hart-felt. Unfortunately, Woodruff's injuries were suffered so early into his tenure as anchor of the broadcast, he had not reached the gravitas of Jennings, Brokaw or Rather. Frankly, the audience had not had an opportunity to embrace him.
Then, the announcement came Vargas was pregnant. Whoa Nellie. ABC now had to face the possibility of being without its other main face of the news division for a minimum of six weeks, but, probably longer.
Today, Vargas officially put an end to the roller coaster ride that the news division has been on. She announced she was relinquishing her role on the broadcast, and would return this fall as co-anchor of 20/20.
While Vargas says this was a decision she made to spend more time focusing on the upcoming birth of her child and raising a family, one has to wonder how much proding came from the higher-ups at ABC News.
In the end, the job is ultimately going to the individual most people felt was the heir apparent to Jennings for the better part of the last decade: Charles Gibson.
Ironically, it was Gibson who announced Jennings' death to viewers last August. Now, at 63, he becomes the latest elder statesman to try to bring stability to the evening news. (CBS' Bob Schieffer ends his stint as Evening News interim anchor when the perky Katie Couric takes the helm in August.)
Where ABC goes from here is somewhat murky. How long the alphabet network can stick with Charles Gibson remains to be seen. Still unclear: what happens to Bob Woodruff if and when he becomes well enough to return?
In a written statement in ABC's press release today, Woodruff said he looked forward to contributing to "his (Gibson's) broadcast."
That's pretty plain english to me. World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elisabeth Vargas was really over before it ever began.
