MorningNews

I don't necessarily remember GMA Weekend utilizing the outside aspect of the Time Square studies much. In fact they rarely broadcast from the downstairs portion so it's not like they necessarily are missing the studios on the weekends.

Oh, and Ginger will be back this Friday.

So who fills in this week?

Why do people continue to speculate that adding Sam Champion or Josh Elliott to any program will resonate with viewers? Yeah people love their bromance but keep in mind they were only 2/5 pieces to a group of host. Similar to my opinion of the people who suggest putting Erica Hill at the forefront of the show, what ratings success has she had to merit the position?

I really don't understand why they won't just use the current Facebook photo although the guide on TV has updated from that epic fail crop job picture to the one with the crew gathered around the desk which led me to believe that this was their official cast photo but I guess not. Honestly it looks terrible.

Yes I believe they are the off screen meteorologist. Ginger refers to them often on her social media outlets.

Spencer??? Oh my God that will be incredible!

David does pretty good. He and Amy were really great together over the Christmas holiday filling in for Robin and George.

According to Ginger's twitter David Muir is filling in for George tomorrow.

Yep especially because Gingers wedding is coming up in the next month. At the rate they're going to name her weekend replacement, they'll probably just have her deliver the forecast in her wedding dress lol.

Tomorrow could be the first chance that we get to see who sits in for George when he's gone. He left the show early today to appear on JKL tonight (unless he gets on the flight to head back after the taping).

If he's so bad then what is it that NBC saw in him?

Yep because NBC's judgement is absolutely spectacular. How are Jane, Conan and Ann doing right now? If you want to see why he's so bad check out First Take tomorrow morning.

A preview of the new Today show.

According to Bill Carter's twitter ESPNer Jamie Horowitz is about to be named Sr VP and General manager of the today show in charge of everything related to the show. HulkieD described this as being a really bad move, so maybe he can offer some more insight.

http://twitter.com/wjcarter

 

I just wrote about this here: http://jmanmediazone.blogspot.com/2014/05/could-katie-couric-be-headed-back-to.html

 

There's no way Couric replaces Guthrie even if she brings the ratings up, NBC has already learned their lesson about uprooting talent. Guthrie is the future of the show.

 

How long would Couric and Lauer honestly be able to do that nosebleed time slot if she were named anchor? Don't forget she's a Yahoo employee now and they don't want anything that would be harmful to that position.

 

She'll most likely become a contributor with her own segment weekly and it'll be interspersed with her Yahoo shows somehow.

 

Not to be anal about the piece that you wrote but you mentioned that NBC is within a few thousand viewers of GMA and looking through ratings reports I can't find a period other than the Olympics in which the gap between number 1 and 2 has been fewer than 500,000-600,000, this past week the gap was nearly a million.

Ben Sherwood's first order of business as Pres. of DATG?

 

Can't find any info on this on the internet. Do the promos advertise Lara as the host?

My guess is that they aren't ready to make a full announcement yet, it's on their vimeo promo page. The promos show a lot of Lara and Rachel Smith. Looks like a few rough draft cuts which makes me think the program is still in the process of development.

I'm hoping it works out and leads to less of Pop News and less of Lara Spencer on the program...

If it's the home security infomercial that Rkolsen mentioned, it also airs during the hour long midday newscast on KTRK in Houston almost every day. It's very tacky but I don't see how that's a low point for WPVI, especially because of its timeslot.

Pop News is being expanded into it's own 30 minute program 5 nights a week on ABC Family according to promos running on ABC.

Yeah that seems appearant now, it was reported that she would fill in more often for Robin but I guess they will split the duties between herself and Amy.

The team is in lock. Thank God! Really good sign that they were able to get everything taken care of way ahead of time.

George has just re-signed to stay with ABC. He'll continue anchoring GMA and This Week.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/george-stephanopoulos-re-signs-with-gma-this-week_b222581

Yeah it was really crowded and uncomfortable looking with basically 4 people cramped to that side of the desk. Michael should stand next to Lara like he did last week it looks more balanced.

So Michael started today. My only thought is that Lara, as anchor, should be in his new seat location as it is more in line with Robin and George.

Michaels presence this morning breathed so much life into the show that I hadn't even realized was missing. GMA felt fresh this morning. Also Lara's new title is just that, a title. The only real change is that she is now Robin's primary fill in.

They haven't included Robin and George's name in the introduction since around the time that Sam left. Lara is in her normal spot but she's introducing more stories and segments so far, if this is the extent of her promotion then I'm fine with this.

 

It sounds to me like it's just an additional title for her to have that she wanted as part of her contract renegotation. She'll probably continue doing what she's been doing, maybe with a few extra stories and interviews. I suspect it also means she'll be the main fill-in at the desk.

 

Anyway, confusing for all of us, I think. We can read into it all we want. Who knows...

 

Let's hope so since it already looks like her role has expanded a bit on the show in the last few weeks. If Lara ever wants to become anchor she has to hand over the pop news and celebrity scoops to someone else on the program, because she can't continue to do what she does now and expect people to take her seriously in a news role. Also the response at least online seems overwhelmingly negative towards the "promotion"

 

 

I dare say that genital counting is unfair. The people on GMA are killing it. The ratings are proving that out. Josh, a man, was replaced by Amy, a woman, a the initial ratings have bumped upward.

 

Agreed. Amy was a great addition and I expect them to continue killing it when Michael and Tony officially start.