Changing ‘This Week’ is not as easy as ABC
MAYBE THEY should consider changing the name of the show.
ABC has formally tapped longtime correspondent Martha Raddatz to be co-anchor of its Sunday morning program “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” — but there are no plans to add her name to the program’s title, network officials said.
Raddatz, who serves as ABC’s chief global affairs correspondent frequently substitutes for Stephanopoulos on the the Sunday morning public affairs show and has been a regular contributor for years.
She is expected to anchor the show this week.
The move should take some of the pressure off Stephanopolous who already works triple duty for ABC News.
Along with “This Week,” he serves as a co-host on “Good Morning America” and is the network’s chief anchor who swings into action when major national and global stories break.
The last, is a role that traditionally would have belonged to David Muir, the anchor of ABC’s “World News.”
But Stephanopoulos — a longtime Democratic political operative who was a top aide in Bill Clinton’s White House — was rumored to have pushed for the high profile gig back in 2014 as a condition for signing a long-term agreement to stay with ABC.
“Over the past several years the show has risen to great new heights with George, our chief anchor, at the helm, and with Martha playing a key role in anchoring and reporting for the program from Washington and from around the globe,” ABC News president James Goldston wrote in a memo to staffers Friday about the Raddatz promotion.
She joined ABC News in January 1999 as the network’s State Department correspondent and covered the White House before being named its chief global affairs correspondent.