‘Week’ lineup
Richard Harris and Katherine O’Hearn have emerged as front-runners to become executive producer of ABC’s “This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts.”
Harris is an executive producer of “Nightline,” while O’Hearn is executive producer of ABC’s “Weekend World News Tonight.”
Sources say both have met with ABC News chief David Westin about the position, which was vacated by Dorrance Smith last month.
“This Week” struggled in the ratings against NBC’s “Meet the Press with Tim Russert” before moving to a 9 a.m. timeslot in New York last month.
Insiders say ABC is expected to make an official announcement on the “This Week” slot “within the next couple of weeks.”
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Dave’s world
David Letterman’s “Late Show” overtook ABC’s “Nightline” last week for the race to catch “The Tonight Show.”
For the week ending Oct. 8, “Late Show,” which finished second, was up 14 percent in households from the same week in ’98 – while Jay Leno’s top-rated “Tonight Show” was up 3 percent in viewers over ’98.
“Nightline,” however, was down an alarming 17 percent in households and 14 percent in viewers from the same week in ’98.
All numbers are based on a four-day average.
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Express Lines:
*Alan Alda’s debut on “ER” boosted TV’s top-rated drama by an additional 2 million viewers last Thursday night. “ER” averaged 30.5 million viewers from 10 to 11 p.m.
*The Yankees Game 2 victory over Boston on Thursday propelled Ch.5 to a total-day victory.
*Ratings for ABC’s “The View” have risen 16 percent this season.
*MTV kicks off new episodes of “The Tom Green Show” this Thursday at 10 p.m.