SLEEPLESS NIGHTS FOR ROBIN & GEORGE
New ABC honcho putting squeeze on the GMA gang
GOOD Morning America heavyweights Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos are worried about getting knocked out by ABC’s new boss, Debra O’Connell, sources say!
Double-fisted Debra — who’s helmed network and television business operations for Disney Entertainment Television — has been handed unprecedented power to punch up sagging ratings and revive the tarnished reputation of scandal-scarred ABC News.
“Both Robin and George are concerned,” reveals an insider. “Network honchos wouldn’t have brought in Debra unless they wanted to see big changes.”
While GMA maintains its number one status in total viewers, the show has been losing the advertiser-friendly 25-54 age demographic to rival CBS Mornings.
“Network execs are determined GMA maintain its lead,” says the insider, who adds Debra promises to be more hands-on than former news division president Kim Godwin, who pretty much let Robin and George run the show.
GMA took a devastating hit when the scandalous affair between then hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes was exposed. And while Robin and George, both 63, were openly critical of the coupling, sources say some execs believe they should have done more to keep it from happening.
“Kim’s style of management was hands-off,” spills the insider. “But it seems that blew up in their faces.”
One insider claims Robin and George have a great relationship with the new sheriff in town, but the source says the GMA stars are fearing what kind of control Debra will exert on them — and if they can even survive the change!
“Both of them were comfortable with the way things were,” notes our source. “Now they have someone watching, and judging, their every move.”