Good Morning America

Good Morning America (also popularly known as GMA), launched in 1975, is the weekday morning news talk show of the American Broadcasting Company, or ABC television network. Featuring news, weather and special interest stories, it is recorded live from its Times Square studios in New York City and fed to all network affiliates. The program is currently hosted by Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, and Robin Roberts. Tony Perkins is the show's weatherman.

Early years

In January 1975, ABC launched A.M. America in an attempt to compete with the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC television network, production of The Today Show hosted by Jim Hartz and Barbara Walters. The show was hosted by Bill Beutel, and Stephanie Edwards and Peter Jennings read the news. The show could not find an audience against The Today Show, so ABC started to look for a new approach. While looking around, they found that one of their affiliates, WEWS in Cleveland, 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 took less of a straightfoward news approach by offering news and weather updates only at the top and bottom of every hour and used the rest of the time discussing 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. The show's creators, Donald L. Perris and William F. Baker, felt the living-room set would make viewers feel more comfortable. The result of all of this was ratings of nearly 70% for The Morning Exchange. ABC took an episode of The Morning Exchange and used it as a pilot. 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.

Related Topics:
1975 - A.M. America - National Broadcasting Company - The Today Show - Jim Hartz - Barbara Walters - Bill Beutel - Stephanie Edwards - Peter Jennings - WEWS - Cleveland - The Morning Exchange - Suburban - Living room - David Hartman - Nancy Dussault - 1977 - Sandy Hill

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