The absence of beloved morning television host Kelly Ripa from her eponymous “Live” program Tuesday morning on ABC has ignited the Internet. Blaring tabloid headlines alleged she was “furious” about the announced departure of her co-host Michael Strahan. As for Mr. Strahan himself, far less attention has been showered on him.
But his planned move downtown to “Good Morning America” has major implications for the dysfunctional ABC News family he’ll be joining full-time. Most notably, what does it mean for George Stephanopoulos, the diminutive former Clinton operative whose perch at “GMA” looks increasingly precarious.
Disney executives announced Monday that Strahan will be a full-time “co-anchor” of “GMA” (one of four), doing news, feature and celebrity interviews for the program beginning in September. The ABC anchor desk is getting very crowded, former ABC News senior vice president Bernard Gershon noted on Twitter:
How many co-hosts can you have before it becomes a baseball team? https://t.co/YHbtio7235
— Bernard Gershon (@bgershon) April 19, 2016
All this raises serious questions about the future of Stephanopoulos, the other male host. Is there really room for both men (and their massive paychecks) on the broadcast? “GMA” has been in a ratings free-fall for months, down double digits year over year in the key demographic, and the icy, aloof Stephanopoulos has long seemed miscast in the role of morning anchor.
Stephanopoulos is painfully uncomfortable with lighter fare and his co-host Robin Roberts stands a full head taller. As “GMA” has devolved in recent years to a circus-like mishmash of different promotions for Disney shows, Disney movies and Disney attractions—segments that are increasingly hard to distinguish from commercial breaks—Stephanopoulos’ continued presence on the set, where he is gets shrunk by his far taller, more boisterous co-hosts is increasingly incongruous.
But “GMA” is produced by ABC’s news division, and as the program moves further from news programming, Stephanopoulos has been a small but important fig leaf, giving the program the patina of “news.” His departure alone could take “GMA” entirely out of the news game. Robin Roberts, the biggest star by far at “GMA,” is a former sports broadcaster and Strahan, of course, is a football commentator and former athlete.
Brian Steinberg, Variety’s TV editor, who has been extensively covering ABC’s recent machinations, told Heat Street: “Michael Strahan is ubiquitous but he is not a journalist and never has been. How will he fit in within the context of a hard news conversation or a discussion on global affairs?”
He added: “George tends to feature prominently in the first half hour of the show when viewers want to know what’s going in the world. His presence lends the show some heft…but who knows what he will end up doing in the future.”
The arguments to remove Stephanopoulos could ultimately prove overwhelming. He’s far from the boyish sex symbol he briefly became in 1992 when he rode Bill Clinton’s coattails to fame and fortune. And while he is the cast’s only male fixture, he hardly provides the dose of testosterone desired by “GMA”’s overwhelmingly female audience.
More importantly, Stephanopoulos is believed to command an eight-figure salary, and Disney is anxious to slash more costs from its beleaguered news division, which (other than the salaries of its last remaining stars) has already been cut to the bone.
Does the Strahan appointment mean ABC plans to move Stephanopoulos aside in the fall, thereby saving Disney millions of dollars? Does it expect him to join the third Clinton Administration should Hillary Clinton win the presidency?
Are Disney’s executives sending him a signal that it’s time to pack up his coffee mug and return to what he actually does well—Democratic politics?
George Stephanopoulos isn't an objective journalist.
And ABC keeps sticking their head in the sand. https://t.co/bch0HcBx70— Deplorable Robyn (@rossr122) April 8, 2016
After all, behind the scenes “GMA” has lately been convulsed by panic—its numbers have been dropping far more quickly than those of its rival, NBC’s “Today Show.” Steinberg said: “Today” has made some strides and ABC is nervous. Recently “Today” has been beating “GMA” in the all-important 25-to-54 year-old demographic.”
Stephanopoulos is no stranger to controversy in recent times. In March 2015 the petite prognosticator was busted for failing to disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation while covering the myriad scandals surrounding the charitable slush fund run by his former boss.
The anchor was forced to apologize on “GMA,” calling the donations a “mistake,” yet he continues to do interviews with Hillary Clinton.
But don’t count Stephanopoulos out. He is, of course, a canny political operator, and he and his wife, Ali Wentworth, are expected to fight any efforts to dethrone him. Strahan may be six-foot-five, but when it comes to ABC’s “Game of Thrones,” the Mountain should not underestimate the Imp.
