Ted Koppel Joins BBC America

Zap2It.com | July 8, 2008

Ted Koppel

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Veteran newsman will contribute news analysis

Ted Koppel will once again be a regular presence on an American newscast this election season, albeit one with a British twist.

The former "Nightline" anchor and current Discovery Channel managing editor has joined BBC America as a contributing analyst. He'll likely take part in covering the political conventions for "BBC World News America," BBC America's nightly newscast, and offer analysis of other stories both for the American broadcast and the BBC World News service.

He'll continue his work at Discovery as well, producing and anchoring documentaries.

"The BBC has worldwide capabilities that I don't think any American network matches," Koppel says. "To the degree that our future in this country is dependent to any extent on what's happening in the rest of the world -- which you won't hear about a great deal on the American networks -- then the BBC can be very, very helpful."

Koppel, who was born in England, also notes that he grew up with the BBC and was "riveted to 'Dick Barton, Special Agent' as a child," so joining the broadcaster as a newsman (and U.S. citizen) is "a particular pleasure."

Koppel's first appearance on "BBC World News America" is slated for later this week.