NEW YORK -- A generation ago, Roone Arledge took a third-ranked ABC News organization and transformed it into a powerhouse with such stars as Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel and Barbara Walters. In part because of the personal crossroads of Jennings and Koppel, the next few years represent the news division's biggest challenge since then. Three of ABC's signature newscasts -- "World News Tonight," "Nightline" and "Primetime Live" -- face significant threats and how the network responds could define ABC News President David Westin's legacy. Cancer is always cruel, but Jennings' April 5 announcement that he was undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer also seemed sad for professional reasons. With Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather stepping down as anchors over the past few months, Jennings was poised to become broadcast news' elder statesman and perhaps even begin a second run at the top of the ratings. He said he would continue working when he could, but hasn't been on the air since. Only weeks ago a succession seemed several years off, and may still be. But, at the very least, it's something Westin has to keep in mind. Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas were designated as fill-ins on "World News Tonight" for when Jennings is too sick to anchor. They would have to be considered the two most obvious internal candidates to succeed Jennings if it came to that, with Bob Woodruff and Terry Moran also possibilities. But Westin stressed he's only thinking about a substitute for Jennings, not a replacement. "A healthy news division has these transitions and has people in place to step in and we do," he said. "We have a bigger and stronger bench than the other news organizations." Gibson may be too valuable at "Good Morning America," which has dramatically narrowed the gap with NBC's market-leading "Today" show. The only anchor that "Nightline" has ever had over 25 years, Koppel announced last month he would leave ABC News at year's end. His show has earned one of the best reputations in broadcast news. But its ratings are declining, and Koppel's lighter schedule was a problem: he often anchors three nights a week. "They knew they had a 'Nightline' problem for years and knew that Ted wouldn't be part of the solution," said Bob Zelnick, former ABC News reporter and now head of Boston University's journalism school. Westin now has the delicate challenge of inventing a new, live "Nightline" that doesn't insult the hard-news sensibilities of its current audience yet can still attract new, younger viewers more used to Jon Stewart late at night. And the unsuccessful recruitment of David Letterman left questions about ABC's commitment to news in the "Nightline" time slot. "Primetime Live," one of ABC's two newsmagazines, had high hopes for a revival this season behind new executive producer Shelley Ross. But it didn't happen, and Ross was ousted after less than a year on the job. A difficult Thursday time slot and an industrywide trend of declining interest in newsmagazines hurt "Primetime." ABC has put the show under the control of "20/20" executive producer David Sloan, perhaps an indication that "Primetime" may be threatened when the network sets its fall schedule next month. "From my point of view, the challenges remain about constant," Westin said. "They are just more visible." Arguably, he said it was tougher duty when he began eight years ago, when he had to get the news organization working better together and not resting on the laurels of its 1980s glory years. "It's a time of change," said Richard Wald, a former ABC executive and now professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. "It's a time of problems. Nothing in television gets invented until there is a problem." The late Arledge made bold moves, Wald said, because he had to. ABC News missed a key opportunity when it decided, for financial reasons, not to start a 24-hour cable news operation a decade ago, Wald said. NBC News did, and although MSNBC isn't a success, the network news division as a whole is the industry's most powerful. Earlier this month, ABC announced it was going ahead with ABC News Now, a 24-hour service that will offer news on various platforms: digital cable, the Internet, video streaming, cell phones and pagers. "To my way of thinking, ABC News Now is leapfrogging the traditional, linear 24-hour news services," Westin said. (Westin is a member of The Associated Press' board of directors). Two decades ago, successful broadcast news companies did not see the business opportunity offered by cable news and it took another outlet -- CNN -- to realize it, said Marc Gunther, author of "The House That Roone Built," about ABC News in the 1980s. Similarly, the organizations now concentrating on cable news may not be in the best position to see the new possibilities that ABC is exploring. "They're busy with the old wars," Westin said, "and we're trying to go ahead with the new wars." ABC's aggressiveness in this realm may pay big future dividends. "That's about the only bright light that I can see on the horizon," Gunther said. Becoming dominant in that area of 24-hour news, however, depends upon having a strong, recognizable news product that people will want to seek out. And that requires ABC News to meet the immediate challenges.

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