June 30, 2005 -- DAYTIME talk show star Ellen DeGeneres had secret meetings with ABC executives to fill the late-night void that Ted Koppel will create when he retires in December after 25 years as host of "Nightline," a source tells PAGE SIX. Conventional wisdom was that ABC would tap a host with a hard-news background to replace Koppel. Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television, said back in April that the network's news division would be be given first crack at developing a program to air in the post-Koppel era, which is still slated to be called "Nightline." But a...