Good Morning America first aired on television in November 1975. Actor David Hartman and actress and singer Nancy Dussault were the show’s initial hosts. American viewing audiences took to David and Nancy. After two years on the show Nancy left GMA and was replaced by Sandy Hill in 1977.
David Hartman and Joan Lunden at Good Morning America
David Hartman remained the primary anchor throughout the daytime television talk show’s first ten years. He anchored the show to the top national spot in the 1980s after ratings rivals Barbara Walters joined ABC and later after news journalist Tom Brokaw left daytime television to anchor NBC’s Nightly News.
In 1987 David departed GMA subsequent to co-anchor Joan Lunden’s ascending popularity. Lunden joined GMA in 1980 as Sandy Hill’s replacement and slowly became a huge favorite in millions of American homes. Lunden’s growing popularity paired with her new co-anchor Charles Gibson’s insightful journalistic approach took Good Morning America to the top daytime talk show spot, moving GMA ahead of their long time NBC rival, The Today Show. Gibson would have a major impact on GMA in the years to come, even after he left the show.
Lunden quickly became an American darling. Then in 1997, ten years after she started working with GMA, Joan met with company executives and told them that she wanted to unburden herself from the demands of co-anchoring a national daytime show to the top of the ratings war week after week. It was a hard blow to Good Morning America.
GMA Out Distances Its Chief Rivals
The next several years saw the show’s anchors changing from Lisa McKee and Kevin Newman to Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer to Connie Chung. Throughout these changes GMA continued to find ways to rival or trump their peers which included CBS’ The Early Show, CNN’s American Morning and NBC’s Today.
Current anchors for Good Morning America are former ESPN sports analyst, Robin Roberts, Diane Sawyer, Sam Champion and Chris Cuomo. Together the television journalists and personalities have conducted feature interviews with politicians, athletes and entertainers such as President Barack Obama, tennis champion Serena Williams, former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, boxer Manny Pacquiao, reality television star Jon Gosselin and award winning actor John Travolta.
Since 2007, Good Morning America’s format has earned television’s highest honor. On Sunday, September 20, 2009, GMA took home its third consecutive Emmy Award for the Best Morning Broadcast. As the show continues to broaden its scope and pull in new viewers, August 2009 it on boarded Steve Harvey as a segment host.
Heady Changes for Good Morning America
Steve Harvey is a comedian, actor, writer and host of nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show. Author of the New York Times bestselling book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Harvey tackles relationship and family challenges GMA viewers have and offers them advice on how they can best approach the situations.
Chart topping singers like Whitney Houston, Maxwell, Kelly Clarkson, Boyz II Men and Reba McIntyre have performed live at the daytime Emmy Award winning show’s Times Square broadcast studio. January 2010 Good Morning America will go through another major transition when co-anchor Diane Sawyer exits to become the commentator for World News.
The move links Sawyer and Charles Gibson for a second time. The two co-anchored Good Morning America from 1999 to 2005, before Gibson moved to World News. Diane will join World News at the start of 2010 as Charles’ replacement as he retires.
Sources:
ABC News. Good Morning America Official Website. 24 September 2009.
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