ABC News Chief Takes Aim at NBC's Top Spot

ABC News President Ben Sherwood said that he aims to "topple" NBC in the continuing ratings wars in television news.

Speaking at the semiannual Television Critics Association press tour, Sherwood focused his comments on the morning hours, where NBC News's "Today" has led the ratings battle for "10 billion weeks," as he put it. " 'Today' is mighty," he said. But "if we keep going, we'll get to our goal of being No. 1." ABC News, which is No. 2 in morning- and evening-news ratings, has seen some ratings growth this season, closing some of the gap with NBC News, which also is the longtime No. 1 in evening news. Sherwood talked about how the Walt Disney Co.-owned network's news coverage would differentiate itself from its competitors, as viewers depart to cable and the Web. "We are trying to adapt to a nonlinear way of thinking about what news and information is," Sherwood said. He said a part of that strategy is the network's partnership with Internet company Yahoo Inc., which in addition to posting ABC news reports will co-produce a coming series of political shows, some of which are already in production, including "Political Punch," with Jake Tapper.