Good Morning America

infobox television
show_name = Good Morning America


picture_format = 480i (SDTV),
720p (HDTV)
caption = Good Morning America title card used since October 22, 2007.
format = News program
location = Times Square Studios
New York, New York
runtime = 180 minutes
120 minutes (telecast)
creator = Donald L. Perris
William F. Baker
starring = Diane Sawyer
(1999–present)
Robin Roberts
(2002–present)
Sam Champion
(2006–present)
Chris Cuomo
(2006–present)
country = USA
num_episodes = 8,325 (as of January 11, 2008)
network = ABC
first_aired = November 3, 1975
last_aired = Present
website = http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/
imdb_id = 0072506
tv_com_id = 1092 AmericanMorningNewsShows

"Good Morning America" ("GMA") is a morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network, debuting on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour, available exclusively on ABC News Now, was introduced in 2007. The current one-hour weekend edition debuted in 2004.

The show features news, talk, weather, and special interest stories. It is produced live from Times Square Studios in New York City and fed to all network affiliates. The program is currently hosted by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Longtime anchor Charles Gibson left the program on June 28, 2006 to become the lead anchor of "ABC World News".

"GMA" has traditionally run second in the ratings to NBC's "Today", but overtook its rival for a period from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s under its most popular anchor team of Gibson and Joan Lunden. "GMA" has won both of the first two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program, sharing the 2007 award with "Today" and winning outright in 2008.

History

1975: The Inaugural Year

On January 6, 1975, ABC launched "AM America" in an attempt to compete with the "The Today Show" on NBC. ABC's show was hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards, with Peter Jennings reading the news. The show could not find an audience against "The Today Show" and its anchor team of Jim Hartz and Barbara Walters, so ABC started to look for a new approach. While looking around, they found that one of their affiliates, WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio, was not broadcasting "A.M. America" but instead was airing a locally produced show called "The Morning Exchange".

Unlike "A.M. America" and "The Today Show", "The Morning Exchange" featured an easygoing and less dramatic approach by offering news and weather updates only at the top and bottom of every hour and used the rest of the time to discuss general-interest/entertainment topics. "The Morning Exchange" also established a group of regular guests who were experts in certain fields such as health, entertainment, consumer affairs, travel, etc. Also unlike both the NBC and ABC shows, "The Morning Exchange" was not broadcast from a newsroom set but instead one that resembled a suburban living room.

ABC took an episode of "The Morning Exchange" and used it as a pilot episode. After rave reviews for the pilot, the format replaced "A.M. America" in November 1975 as "Good Morning America". "Good Morning America"'s first host was David Hartman, featuring Nancy Dussault as his co-host. Dussault was replaced in 1977 by Sandy Hill.

1976–1989: Growth and Change

"Good Morning America" ratings climbed slowly but steadily throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s while "The Today Show" experienced a slight slump in viewership, especially with Barbara Walters' decision to leave NBC for a job at ABC. On August 30, 1976, Tom Brokaw began anchoring "The Today Show" while a search was made for a female co-host. Within a year, "The Today Show" managed to beat back the "Good Morning America" ratings threat with Brokaw and new co-host Jane Pauley, featuring art and entertainment contributor Gene Shalit.

"Good Morning America" continued to threaten "The Today Show" into the 1980s, especially after Brokaw left "Today" to become "NBC Nightly News" co-anchor with Roger Mudd for two years before being named sole anchor. For the first time, "Good Morning America" became the highest rated morning news program in the United States as "The Today Show" fell to second place.At the outset, "Good Morning America" was a talk program with a main host, David Hartman, who was joined by a sidekick co-host. Nancy Dussault and Sandy Hill were scripted as less than equal hosts. In 1980, Hill left "Good Morning America" and was replaced by Joan Lunden, an anchor for WABC in New York. Hartman and Lunden led the show through several seasons of success. Lunden's popularity led to her promotion to co-anchor. The partnership ended on February 20, 1987 as Hartman retired, following 3,189 programs. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOs5xlG4Cmk YouTube - Good Morning America - David Hartman's Last Day, 2/87 pt. 1 ] ] .

After Hartman's retirement, Lunden was paired with Charles Gibson on February 20, 1987 and ratings skyrocketed for "Good Morning America". They became the most popular news partnership on television in the late 1980s and early 1990s and, for the first time, "GMA" regularly won the ratings battle against NBC's "Today".

1990–1998: Rise and Decline

"Good Morning America" sailed into the 1990s with its overwhelming ratings success. Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson were a hard couple to beat. But "Good Morning America" would stumble from its top spot in late 1995. Lunden began to discuss working less, and mentioned to network execs that the morning schedule is the hardest in the business. ABC executives promised Lunden a prime time show, "Behind Closed Doors", would be on the network schedule. On May 23, 1997, Lunden decided to step down after 17 years on the show and was replaced by Lisa McRee. The show was almost killed [ [http://www.jumptheshark.com/topic/good-morning-america-general-comments/783 Good Morning America - General Comments in G in Jump The Shark] ] when Gibson, too, left the show to make way for Kevin Newman in 1998. With McRee and Newman at the helms of "Good Morning America", long time viewers switched to "The Today Show", whose ratings skyrocketed and have remained at the top spot since the week of December 11, 1995.

1999–2006: The Gibson–Sawyer tenure

On January 18,1999, ABC became desperate to revive "Good Morning America", and negotiated Gibson's return, teaming him up with Diane Sawyer. The team was meant to be temporary until ABC could find permanent replacements. However, "Good Morning America" ratings once again increased and battled "The Today Show" for viewership, though it has not yet proclaimed a victory in weekly viewership over "The Today Show". ABC stuck with the Gibson and Sawyer team as anchors of "Good Morning America" for 7 1/2 years. Until March 18, 2002, the news was anchored by Antonio Mora. When he left to anchor WBBM-TV in Chicago, Robin Roberts, a former ESPN anchor, replaced Mora.

The show moved from the ABC News Headquarters in Lincoln Square to its present home at the Times Square Studios on August 30, 1999. The new location made it possible for the program to feature a live audience outside the studio (a la "Today").

In May 2005, ABC announced that Roberts, the show's news anchor, would be promoted to co-anchor. She had been regularly filling in for Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson up until then.

As of 2005, "Good Morning America" had still not prevailed over "The Today Show" in the ratings since 1995, though it had a few one-show victories, on the day after Pope John Paul II's funeral, and then with a Mariah Carey concert in 2005. "Good Morning America" has won in timeslots in large markets like New York, which might have been an indication that the audience was migrating from "The Today Show". Recently, however, the viewership gap between "Today" and "GMA" has widened again.

On November 3, 2005, "GMA" celebrated its 30th birthday with recaps to 1975 and by decorating Times Square. Former co-hosts David Hartman and Joan Lunden, along with former meteorologist Spencer Christian were among the guests of honor. Hartman signed off the show that day with his trademark close "From all of us, make it a good day." On that day "Good Morning America" became the first morning news show to broadcast in HDTV.

On December 2, 2005, weatherman Tony Perkins left "Good Morning America", where he has been the weather personality since 1999. The last ten minutes of the day's show was dedicated to Perkins, where he gave thanks to one of the show's producers and a heartfelt goodbye to the three anchors, Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, and Robin Roberts. Perkins announced that he was going to go home to his family and would be living in Washington, D.C., where he would go back to WTTG-TV, where he was previously a weather personality. He affectionately said to his young child on the air, "Connor, if you're watching, daddy's comin' home." Perkins was replaced by former Chicago WGN-TV morning sports anchor Mike Barz.

Charles Gibson ended his run on "Good Morning America" on June 28, 2006. The program was dedicated to Gibson's 19 years as anchor on "GMA" and celebrated his move to the anchor chair at "WNT". Gibson ended his tenure by stating, "For 19 years, my mornings have been not just good — they've been great." [ [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2128555&page=1 abcnews.go.com/GMA/story] ]

2006–present: The Sawyer–Roberts era

There had been speculation that Diane Sawyer would leave her seat at "Good Morning America" when her contract expired in 2007 due to the fact that she was coveting the "World News Tonight" anchor job which was given to Gibson. In August 2006, Chris Cuomo was named news anchor. He has since continued his anchoring duties on ABC's "Primetime" as well as remaining ABC News Senior Legal Correspondent. Meanwhile, Sam Champion was named "GMA"'s new weather anchor as well as ABC News weather editor. Both Cuomo and Champion began their respective duties on the program September 5, 2006, when "GMA" instituted a new graphics package, and new news area for Cuomo to report the news. Also, beginning on September 13, 2006, "GMA" introduced a new logo this time with gold font on a blue background. This logo bore a resemblance to the initial "GMA" logo that was used up to early 1987, and coincided with the show's conversion to HDTV, beating rival "Today" to the punch.

On June 29, 2007, movie critic for the show, Joel Siegel died at age 63 after a battle of cancer. The episode of July 9 was dedicated to Siegel, with former cast members Hartman, Hill, Lunden, Newman, Christian, Perkins and Gibson all appearing to share their memories.

On July 31, 2007, co-anchor Robin Roberts announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and that she has discovered the lump in a self-examination while preparing the Siegel tribute episode. She has remained as anchor while going through chemotherapy. She has completed radiation treatments as of March 28, 2008.

On October 22, 2007, Good Morning America introduced their new on screen appearance. Using much of their old on screen appearance design features, they went from a basic blue setting to a more orangish-gold setting. Their opening changed from the camera zooming in on the hosts while they introduced the host, to an opening with new music (by the New York based music production company, "DreamArtists Studios") and a background with the Good Morning America logo falling onto the screen. They also changed their on screen ticker and bug for the first time in years. The ticker features an orange background with the modified ABC News logo. The bug still featured the time to the left but with an orange back drop with the letters GMA and ABC News.com logo to the right.

After a couple of appearances on "Good Morning America", British fashion advisers Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine reported on the fashion at the 80th Academy Awards especially for the show.

On January 15, 2008 during an interview with Diane Sawyer, Diane Keaton admired Sawyer's beauty, stating that if she had lips like Sawyer's, "then I wouldn't have worked on my fucking personality!" She said that she would also be married by now. Keaton quickly apologized for the remark and Sawyer threatened to have her mother "work on your personality with soap in your mouth." While this would formerly have been in violation of the Federal Communications Commission's decency laws, incurring a fine for Good Morning America producer and distributor ABC, officials of the FCC have stated that recent legal action and resultant policy changes may confound any action it chooses to take. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1656552120080116 Diane Keaton swears on TV, FCC stammers] . Reuters. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.]

Logos

GMA_logo_1995-1999.Image:Gmalogo1999.gif|GMA_logo_1999-2002.Image:ABC_-_Good_Morning_America.jpg|GMA_Opening_Sequence_from_Times_Square_in_2004_Image:2006gmablue.jpg|GMA_logo_used_from_September 5, 2006 - October 21, 2007. This could be considered an early version of their current logo.

Weekend versions

"Main article: Good Morning America Weekend Edition"The first weekend edition of "GMA" aired on Sundays only from 1993 to 1999. The current version, which airs for one hour on Saturdays and Sundays, debuted on September 4, 2004 with Bill Weir and Kate Snow as co-anchors. Ron Claiborne is the news anchor and Marysol Castro serves as weather anchor and features reporter.

Whistle-Stop Tour '08

Beginning September 2008, Good Morning America made history as the newscasters rode an Amtrak train. Their slogan was "50 States in 50 Days". Their first telecasted stop was in Lenox, Massachusetts.

"Good Morning America Radio"

In January 2006, "Good Morning America" launched a radio edition of the program on XM Radio's Take Five. The show would incorporate features and news from the television edition as well as allow fans to discuss these topics. The radio edition of the show is hosted by Hilarie Barksy and airs Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to Noon Eastern Time.

"Good Morning America Now"

On September 4, 2007, Good Morning America extended their broadcast by an hour, now airing a third hour of the program which can be seen only on their 24 hour news channel, ABC News Now. The program is mainly hosted by Chris Cuomo, but also includes the main Good Morning America anchors. Other ABC News personalities featured as correspondents for the show are Claire Shipman, Juju Chang, Deborah Roberts, Elizabeth Vargas, Kate Snow, Marysol Castro, Ron Claiborne and Bianna Golodryga.

Hosts/Anchors

Current hosts

*Diane Sawyer, Anchor (1999–present)
*Robin Roberts, Anchor (2005–present)
*Chris Cuomo, News Anchor (2006–present)
*Sam Champion, Weather Anchor (2006-present)
*Kate Snow, Weekend Anchor (2004-present)
*Bill Weir, Weekend Anchor (2004-present)
*Ron Claiborne, Weekend News Anchor (2004–present)
*Marysol Castro, Weekend Weather Anchor (2004–present)

Past hosts

*David Hartman (1975–1987)
*Nancy Dussault (1975–1977)
*Sandy Hill (1977–1980)
*Joan Lunden (1980–1997)
*Charles Gibson (1987–1998; 1999–2006)
*Lisa McRee (1997–1999)
*Kevin Newman (1998–1999)

Past news anchors

*Steve Bell (1975–1985)
*Kathleen Sullivan (1985–1987)
*Jed Duvall (1987–1988)
*Forrest Sawyer (1988–1989)
*Mike Schneider (1989–1993)
*Morton Dean (1993–1996)
*Elizabeth Vargas (1996–1997)
*Kevin Newman (1997–1998)
*Antonio Mora (1998–2002)
*Robin Roberts (2002–2005)

Contributors, Past and present

*Hilarie Barksy (Radio Edition – as of 2006)
*Mike Barz (2005-2006), correspondent/weatherman
*Glenn Beck (as of 2007)
*Hilary Brown, foreign correspondent
*Taryn Winter Brill (as of 2008), features correspondent
*Spencer Christian (1986-1999), weatherman
*Don Dahler (as of 2006)
*Megan Glaros (as of 2007), freelance meteorologist
*Bianna Golodryga (as of 2007)
*Ron Hazelton (as of 2006)
*Mellody Hobson (as of 2006), financial contributor
*Gregory Hunter (as of 2006)
*Rebecca Kolls (as of 2006)
*Tory Johnson (as of 2007), workplace contributor
*Timothy Johnson (as of 2006), medical editor
*Emeril Lagasse (as of 2006), food contributor
*Sara Moulton (as of 2006), food contributor
*David Muir (as of 2006), correspondent
*Ann Pleshette Murphy (as of 2006)
*John J. Nance (as of 2006)
*Tony Perkins (1999–2005), weatherman
*Wolfgang Puck (as of 2006), food contributor
*Claire Shipman (as of 2006), senior national correspondent
*Martha Raddatz (as of 2006)
*Gloria Riviera, foreign correspondent
*Joel Siegel (1981-2007), film critic
*George Stephanopoulos (1997-2002), political analyst, host of "This Week", and chief Washington correspondent
*Bob Woodruff (as of 2006), correspondent and "ABC News" anchor

International broadcasts

In Australia, the Nine Network and regional affiliates WIN and NBN air "Good Morning America" Tuesdays through Fridays from 3.30am. Friday's edition airs Saturday mornings at 4.30am. The Sunday edition airs Monday mornings at 4 am. The program is condensed into a 90-minute format. A national weather map of Australia is during cut-aways to local affiliates for weather information. "GMA" airs at the same time as the "NBC Today" on the Seven Network and Network Ten's "CBS Early Show". It is unchallenged, ratings wise, in some regional areas where other affiliates preempt their networks' US breakfast programs with paid and religious programming.

Orbit Satellite Television Network air "Good Morning America" on the channel "America Plus" Mondays through Fridays live at 1100 GMT in the Middle East and Europe.

In the Philippines, GMA's weekday edition is aired Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30 local time on Velvet. The weekend edition is aired live.

ee also

*"Good Morning America Weekend Edition"
*Breakfast television

References

External links

* [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ Official Website]
*imdb title|id=0072506|title=Good Morning America