Strained Relationship With News

Robert Iger and David Letterman had two things in common: Both started their careers as TV weathermen and worked as production assistants at the Indianapolis 500.

It was a bond that Iger, now president of Walt Disney Co., thought would give him an inside track in the company’s attempt to woo the late-night talk show host to its ABC network from CBS.

“I thought I really connected with him,” said Iger, defending ABC’s highly publicized but unsuccessful bid for Letterman.

Critics maintain that the pursuit of the talk show host proves that news does not fit with Disney’s plans. Had Letterman signed with ABC, the prestigious news program “Nightline” would have been displaced from the slot it has occupied for two decades.

“It wasn’t throwing the news division over the transom; it was going after David Letterman,” said Iger, a former ABC president. “I don’t think people have any idea of the level of which Michael and I are supporters of ABC News,” he said, referring to Disney Chairman Michael Eisner.

Iger said the gambit was intended to seize an economic opportunity that could have brought the network an additional half a billion dollars in profit over five years. (Rival networks question that estimate.)

“Because the numbers were so enormous, we felt that, even given the potential fallout of news, that it was the right thing for us to do,” Iger said.

“If you’re in my position and you’re focused on earnings per share and shareholder value . . . you have to look at that very seriously.”

Iger said that keeping the matter secret was a calculated and necessary strategy to prevent CBS from quickly re-signing Letterman and to avoid placing ABC News President David Westin in an untenable position.

“I could have said, ‘David, I’m going to give you really bad news, but you can’t tell anybody.’ What good would that have done?”

Iger said his chief regret was in not stepping in sooner to defend the quality of “Nightline” and ABC News. But he added that there’s room for improvement. The network needs more cutting-edge prime-time specials, such as a recent program on Osama bin Laden that drew solid ratings, Iger said.

ABC trails NBC in the morning and nightly news races, though “World News Tonight With Peter Jennings” is up 8% in viewership this season.

Part of the problem with ABC News has been clashing corporate cultures.

Iger acknowledged, for example, that he receives outraged anonymous letters from news division personnel who bristle whenever Eisner sends out companywide e-mails addressed “Dear cast member,” reflecting Disney’s view that all its employees should be working toward the goal of entertaining an audience.

“Maybe I’m insensitive,” he said of the complaints, “but get a life.”