Late-night host David Letterman said Monday that he is staying with CBS rather than taking Ted Koppel's time slot at ABC, but the \Nightline"" anchor strongly suggested he would not continue unless ABC provided a long-term commitment to the news program.
Letterman, who ultimately decided he did not want his legacy to be that of booting Koppel off the air, told his ""Late Show"" audience Monday night in New York that Koppel's ""contributions to American culture speak for themselves."" He said the ""Nightline"" anchor, ""deserves the right to determine his own professional future. ... My personal hope is that [the ABC time slot] will continue to be occupied by Ted Koppel and 'Nightline' for as long as that guy would like to have that job.""
The wounds were still raw at ABC News, as Koppel took a defiant stance toward the network executives, who dismissed his program as irrelevant and were prepared to cut him loose in favor of Letterman's younger and more lucrative audience.
