December 31, 1999 (1999-12-31)– January 1, 2000 (2000-01-01)
ABC 2000 (officially ABC 2000 Today) was 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 AmericaTimes 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. The windows of the studio directly overlooked Times Square, the traditional center of New Year's Eve celebrations in New York.
Planning for what would become ABC 2000 started in late 1998.[4]Dick Clark shared preliminary plans during the December 31, 1998–January 1, 1999 episode of New Year's Rockin' Eve:
"1999 is with us. It's going to be the prelude to the biggest millennium celebration you have ever seen. I urge you to make sure to be with ABC because it'll be worldwide coverage. Not only of just Times Square, we're going to expand our coverage on New Year's Eve...Rockin' Eve 2000 [sic]. It'll be the biggest thing you have ever seen with more entertainment and more coverage. And it'll all happen here on ABC."
In March of 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 1970, 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".[5] 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 that included:
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 (UTC 9:50), 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.[6]
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. No coverage of midnight was shown of the remaining three time zones, which included Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, and parts of Polynesia. While ABC ended their coverage in the United States, other 2000 Today networks continued for an additional two hours.
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).[7]
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.[9]
Reception
ABC 2000 was by far the most comprehensive New Year's coverage of any of the three major broadcast networks in the United States,[10] and was named one of the best television programs of the year.[11] By contrast, CBS aired only 30-second news updates each hour throughout the day with Dan Rather, a special 8p.m. edition of the Late Show with David Letterman and from 10p.m. to 1a.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 8p.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.[12][13][14] Cable network CNN had all-day news coverage, and highlighted several smaller celebrations.[15]
With the lack of Y2K problems, ABC 2000's coverage shifted largely to "more party than news".[12]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.[16]
The primetime portion of the broadcast registered a 10.6 rating, and average of 18.6 million viewers.[17] 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,[18] and ABC easily defeated both CBS and NBC for the night. The broadcast won two News and Documentary Emmy Awards,[19][20] a Peabody Award,[21][22] a TCA Award,[23] and was nominated for a DGA Award.[24] Highlights of the telecast were released on VHS titled ABC 2000 The New Millennium Highlights.[25]
↑Brumley, Bryan (January 1, 2000). "Fade out on an era, fade in on the next - News stories, countdowns split TV screens worldwide - Y2K trouble becomes the nonstory of the day". Associated Press.
↑Eltiempo1. "ABC 2000 The Vote". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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