David Westin Explains How George Stephanopoulos Is The Future Of News

Former ABC News president David Westin says if the television networks are to survive, they need a lot more talent like George Stephanopoulos. In an interview with Adweek’s Caren Alpert, Westin says viewership of network news shows is facing a monster challenge from the web. “TV (is) starting to drop off, even cable news has been down. What has skyrocketed has been Internet and mobile. If the traditional news providers don’t establish a presence in Internet and mobile, then the larger market forces say they will be out of business.”

The answer? George Stephanopoulos:

AW: So you have George Stephanopoulos popping up on a bajillion platforms?
DW: That’s more the model for the future. People identify him with public policy and Washington politics. He has an anchor position at GMA, but you see him on World News regularly; you see him on the special reports. He’s prominent on the Web. He tweets and he has a Facebook page.

Fittingly, the GMA anchor made an appearance in late night Tuesday, making a cameo on David Letterman‘s Late Show. Watch it here, from ABC:

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