Sketch of the Day: Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline, from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before Nightline, he spent twenty years as a broadcast journalist and news anchor for ABC. After becoming host of Nightline, he was regarded as one of the most "outstanding" of the serious-minded interviewers on American television. Five years after its 1980 debut the show had a nightly audience of some seven and a half million viewers. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel, a news analyst for NPR and BBC World News America and a contributor to Rock Center with Brian Williams. Koppel is currently a special contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning. His career as foreign and diplomatic correspondent earned him numerous awards, including nine Overseas Press Club awards and twenty-five Emmy Awards.