This Week Move Risky for ABC, Amanpour

Christiane Amanpour isn't an obvious choice to host ABC’s Sunday gabfest This Week, but the network is confident in its choice. ABC says “Interviews and analysis about domestic politics and policies” will remain the show's focus, with the addition of an “international perspective.” Counting on a woman who speaks with an accent rather than a white male Washington insider to spearhead the change is a daring move, Michael Calderone writes for Politico.

“The reality is that we’re a news program on Sunday mornings," says This Week's executive producer. But when Amanpour starts her new gig in August, "the 2010 midterm races will be in full swing," Calderone notes. "It’s an unlikely moment for a host lacking experience in covering Washington politics to take the reins, and another reason the hire struck some staffers as coming out of left field."
(More Christiane Amanpour stories.)