You would think Disney and ABC learned from the mistakes of their counterparts at NBC. Based on what occurred Tuesday, the only thing they didn’t learn is how essential talent and their emotional state is to the success of your broadcast. Michael Strahan’s surprise jump to Good Morning America has become a huge story and it probably won’t go away anytime soon and could have major long-term effects on both shows.
Ripa did not host Live! on Wednesday morning, with actress Ana Gasteyer filling in. And Erin Andrews will fill in on Thursday and Friday for what is supposedly a “previously scheduled vacation” to celebrate her wedding anniversary. Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell will sub for Ripa on Monday’s show. Is Ripa staging a protest over Strahan’s departure and how ABC is treating Live?
The New York Times‘ John Koblin revealed how Ripa was told of Strahan’s big news and it is extremely cringe-worthy to read:
“After ‘Live’ ended on Tuesday morning, Ms. Ripa was called to a meeting along with the show’s longtime producer, Michael Gelman, and the WABC general manager, Dave Davis (the show is produced by WABC, and it is distributed by ABC and Disney’s syndication group). She did not know the purpose of the meeting.
After a 20-minute wait, Mr. Strahan entered the room and broke the news that he was leaving. It wasn’t long before tensions flared.
‘Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen?’ Ms. Ripa said to Mr. Davis at the meeting, according to the person. ‘I told you two years ago this was going to happen.’ A few minutes after the meeting ended, ABC publicly announced Mr. Strahan’s departure. Ms. Ripa later let the network know she would not appear on Wednesday.
Ms. Ripa was angry, this person said, because she perceived that “Good Morning America” was being given priority over ‘Live.’ Ms. Ripa declined to comment.”
When Strahan first made the jump to GMA as a correspondent, Ripa was afraid he would lose focus on Live. She was told by her bosses that this was only a temporary move and was even assured by Strahan himself that the talk show was still his home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFtG0ziXuCI
But as Strahan got better at his role with GMA, according to The Daily Beast, it began making no sense for Strahan to leave after hosting for only one hour during two days of the week.
“Countering observations that this move is essentially a ‘Hail Mary’ play by ABC President Ben Sherwood in a desperate attempt to fix a nagging and costly problem—the sagging ad revenue at GMA—a current ABC source said that GMA’s producers have long made it clear to Strahan that they want more of him on the air; on the days when he does appear on GMA, he must leave by 8 a.m. in order to prepare for Live!”
Yes, Ripa makes $20 million per year. Yes, she doesn’t have to worry about a thing for the rest of her life and yes, she has one of the coolest jobs in the world. But how can Ripa not be mad that her superiors didn’t give her more time to find out about her own show’s upheaval? The show she’s been working on for 15 years. Especially after one of the masterminds behind the upheaval showed up to pay tribute to her because of her loyalty to the show just two months ago. Was Disney chairman Bob Iger really there to further negotiations with Strahan?
https://youtu.be/x6jCRsR3_xw?t=1m21s
It also doesn’t help that CNN and TMZ are both separately reporting that this could signal a move of Live! to a different timeslot, away from 9 a.m. to make room for… GMA.
“We’re told there’s serious talk about giving ‘Live’ the boot at 9 AM and adding a third hour to ‘GMA.’ It’s unclear if Disney is eyeing a time slot later in the morning for Kelly’s show. It’s pretty incredible, since ‘Live’ has been super successful on Kelly’s watch.
Adding a 3rd hour to ‘GMA’ is the logical next move, since Strahan has established himself in the 9 AM time slot.”
This kind of sabotage might be worse that what the Eagles did to Sam Bradford on Wednesday, trading for the No. 2 pick. It might even be worse than the actions a New York Daily News‘ editor took towards Shaun King. Ann Curry’s departure from NBC’s Today show is the only thing that could ever top this. It just feels very dirty and could hurt the way viewers look at both GMA and Live!, as well as the reputation of ABC as a network. Viewers cling to personalities as if they were members of their own family and anyone who is disrespectful to a family member should expect major consequences, as NBC learned.
"We are thrilled to say that @MichaelStrahan will be joining us every morning, in the fall!" – @RobinRoberts https://t.co/lWQJVUXoIF
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 20, 2016
Ultimately, ratings and money are behind this move. In 2014, according to Variety, GMA was bringing in over $300 million in revenue, whereas Live! only generates $70 million to $100 million, per the Los Angeles Times. Any drop in ad revenue due to a slide in ratings needs to be shored up, or else it puts the rest of ABC’s news operation in jeopardy. For all three of the broadcast networks, the success of the morning shows fund every single other news show on their platform because that is when they receive the most viewers.
As Deadline points out, bringing Strahan on board is the easiest option to make sure GMA doesn’t fall behind expectations.
“Bringing Strahan on board GMA full time is a no brainer, given his track record appearing twice weekly on the show, and the importance to the company of bolstering the lucrative morning program. Meanwhile, moving Strahan off Live is considered relatively low risk, given that Ripa previously carried the program for a year before Strahan was named her co host. Exec producer Michael Gelman is “good at this,” one insider noted, having executed several show co-host on-air searches in the past. “The co-host search is fun to watch,” said the source. “They get a ton of big names to try out. And, ratings went up last time she looked for her new on-air partner.”
However, none of this changes the way Ripa feels and it could change the dynamic of the show moving forward. Ripa will once again have to build chemistry with a different host and before she even finds a new partner, she’ll likely have to go through dozens of other hosts and carry a bigger load than what is ideal. What makes anyone think she is a guarantee to stay after her contract is up in 2017? Or maybe she would bolt even sooner. NBC has tried to poach Ripa for years and could easily move her to Today‘s 9 a.m. slot, which is already currently being revamped — ironically enough to compete better with Live!
If Ripa were to leave, here’s an even more interesting plot twist. New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reports that ABC’s boss Ben Sherwood loves Fox’s Megyn Kelly and would be willing to make her an offer as the unofficial replacement for Barbara Walters. Kelly has expressed interest in broadening her horizons and Live! may be the vehicle to do just that, along with primetime specials.
In the near-term, Strahan and Ripa hosting together figures to be extremely awkward from now until September, when Strahan is scheduled to depart. Reports have surfaced that the two co-hosts who seemed like a perfect match on-air didn’t always get along behind the scenes. Ripa reportedly feels blindsided and might not come back on-air until Strahan leaves. She hasn’t said a word since the announcement and Strahan even forgot to mention Ripa and thank her when he initially confirmed his departure during the beginning of Wednesday’s show. Strahan awkwardly thanked Ripa towards the end, but the damage in the minds of many was already done.
https://youtu.be/9aa0RTLOYCA
Adding further intrigue is that apparently not everyone at GMA is happy to see Strahan go full-time, via Deadline.
“Meanwhile, sources say that while Strahan has great chemistry with the GMA team, some members are not wild about Strahan being positioned as the guy who’s being brought in to turn the place around.”
Notice how Lara Spencer hasn’t tweeted anything in support of this move. Also notice how TMZ‘s story on Strahan referred to Robin Roberts, George Stephanopolous and Big Mike as the “Three Musketeers.”
Due to the headlines that have transpired, Strahan dropped out of an appearance in New York on Wednesday, according to E! News:
“Meanwhile, Michael didn’t appear at the Food Bank of New York City Can Do Awards tonight, where he was slated to host. Instead, a recorded video message was played with Strahan apologizing for his absence.”
There’s just so much drama to keep up with! When will Kelly come back to work? Who replaces Strahan? Will Kelly stay on Live! beyond 2017? Will this saga affect GMA‘s ratings? Find out on the next episode of Dragonball Z — oops, I mean Live! with Kelly and Michael (until September).
One thing is for certain, this epic chronicle of behind-the-scenes hysteria, along with what the future holds for ABC in the mornings, is far from over.
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