‘This Week’ leaving Newseum, Al Jazeera to move in to space

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ABC News has reportedly decided to pull out of its studio at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

ABC moved in to the Newseum’s multipurpose studio space in April 2007, taking advantage of the prime piece of real estate’s sweeping views of the Capitol.

However, since “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos became co-anchor of “Good Morning America” and the show is produced from New York for all but one week a month, the studio has mainly been used to house remote guests.

The lease on the space expires at the end of the month, reports Broadcasting & Cable, and plans call for June 16’s broadcast to be the first to originate from a new set, currently being constructed, at the ABC News bureau. That studio also housed “This Week” when David Brinkley was host.

Meanwhile, it appears the Newseum space won’t be vacant for long. Reports say that Al Jazeera America will take over the studio, as well as renting office space, something ABC didn’t do.

According to sources, Al Jazeera’s lease will only allow it to use the studio space Monday through Friday, which would technically have made it possible for ABC to continue to produce “This Week” there, perhaps at a reduced cost, but the set would need to be dismantled each week.

Sources also say that ABC, as a founding member of the Newseum, may continue to use the Newseum space for special events, such as the inauguration.

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