ABC World News Tonight

***ABC World News Tonight*** (titled ***ABC World News Tonight with David Muir*** for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network in the United States. It is currently the most watched network newscast in the United States, with an average of 2 million more than its nearest rival, *NBC Nightly News*. Since 2014, the program's weekday broadcasts have been anchored by David Muir. As of February 6–7, 2021, Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis anchor the weekend editions of the newscast, with Johnson anchoring on Saturdays and Davis anchoring on Sundays.

The program has been anchored at various times by a number of other presenters since its debut in 1948. It also has used various titles, including *ABC Evening News* from 1970 to 1978, *World News Tonight* from 1978 to 2006, *World News* from 2006 to 2009, and *ABC World News* from 2009 to 2014. Since 2014 the program has been called *ABC World News Tonight.*

## Anchors

### Weekdays

1. H. R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons (News and Views, August 11, 1948 – March 30, 1951)
2. Unknown (After the Deadlines, April 2, 1951 – October 3, 1952)
3. Bryson Rash, Pauline Frederick, Gordon Fraser and Leo Cherne (All-Star News, October 6, 1952 – January 2, 1953 – primetime news, one hour Mondays and Wednesdays, half hour other nights)
4. ABC network had no evening news broadcast Monday through Friday (January 5, 1953 – October 9, 1953)
5. John Daly (John Daly and the News, October 12, 1953 – September 12, 1958)
6. Don Goddard (ABC News, September 15, 1958 – May 8, 1959, at 7:15–7:30 (Eastern and Pacific Time), followed three hours later by John Daly and the News at 10:30–10:45 (Eastern and Pacific))
7. John Daly (John Daly and the News, May 11, 1959 – December 16, 1960)
8. Bill Shadel (ABC Evening Report, December 19, 1960 – September 22, 1961)
9. Bill Lawrence, Al Mann and John Cameron Swayze (ABC Evening Report, September 25, 1961 – March 23, 1962, at 6 or 7, followed four or five hours later by 10-minute ABC News Final with Ron Cochran)
10. Ron Cochran (ABC Evening Report, March 26, 1962 – January 29, 1965) also anchorman for 10-minute news at 11 pm until March 29, 1963; followed on the late news by Murphy Martin (April 2, 1963 – January 3, 1964) and Bob Young (January 6, 1964 – January 8, 1965)
11. Peter Jennings (Peter Jennings with the News, February 1, 1965 – October 13, 1967 – program expanded to half-hour as ABC News on January 9, 1967)
12. Bob Young (ABC News, October 16, 1967 – May 24, 1968)
13. Frank Reynolds (ABC News, May 27, 1968 – May 16, 1969)
14. Frank Reynolds and Howard K. Smith (ABC News, May 19, 1969 – December 4, 1970)
15. Howard K. Smith and Harry Reasoner (ABC Evening News, December 7, 1970 – September 5, 1975)
16. Harry Reasoner (ABC Evening News, September 8, 1975 – October 1, 1976)
17. Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters (ABC Evening News, October 4, 1976 – July 7, 1978)
18. Frank Reynolds, Max Robinson and Peter Jennings (World News Tonight, July 10, 1978 – April 20, 1983)
19. Max Robinson and Peter Jennings (World News Tonight, April 23, 1983 – August 8, 1983)
20. Peter Jennings (World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, August 9, 1983 – April 5, 2005)
21. Interim anchors Charles Gibson, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff (World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, April 6, 2005 – August 12, 2005; World News Tonight, August 15, 2005 – January 2, 2006)
22. Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas (World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas, January 3  – May 26, 2006)
23. Charles Gibson (World News with Charles Gibson, May 29, 2006 – December 18, 2009)
24. Diane Sawyer (ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, December 21, 2009 – August 27, 2014)
25. David Muir (ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, since September 1, 2014)

### Weekends

1. Ted Koppel (Saturday edition, 1975–1977)
2. Tom Jarriel and Sylvia Chase (Saturday edition, 1977–1979)
3. Sam Donaldson (Sunday edition, 1979–1989)
4. Kathleen Sullivan (Saturday edition, 1985–1987)
5. Barry Serafin (Saturday edition, 1987–1988)
6. Carole Simpson (Saturday edition, 1988–1993; Sunday edition, 1993–2003)
7. Forrest Sawyer (Sunday edition, 1989–1993)
8. Aaron Brown (Saturday edition, 1993–1997)
9. Elizabeth Vargas (Saturday edition, 1997–2003; Sunday edition, 2003–2004)
10. Sam Champion (Sunday edition, 1997-2013)
11. Terry Moran (Saturday edition, 2004–2005)
12. Bob Woodruff (Sunday edition, 2004–2005)
13. Kate Snow (2004-2006)
14. Robin Roberts (2004-2012)
15. Jim Avila (Saturday edition, 2006–2007)
16. Dan Harris (Sunday edition, 2006–2011)
17. David Muir (Saturday edition, 2007–2011; weekends, 2011–2014)
18. Robin Roberts (Sunday edition, 2011-2021)
19. Rob Marciano (Saturday edition, 2014-2018)
20. Cecilia Vega (Saturday edition, 2015–2017)
21. Tom Llamas (Sunday edition, 2015–2017; weekends, 2017–2021, Now at NBC News)
22. Michael Strahan (Saturday edition, 2016-present)
23. Lara Spencer (Sunday edition, 2016-present)
24. Whit Johnson (Saturday edition, 2021–present)
25. Linsey Davis (Sunday edition, 2021–present)