News

It's a Gma family reunion! Good Morning America recently marked its 40th anniversary and to celebrate, former hosts, weather anchors and other stars, such as Diane Sawyer, 69, Charlie Gibson, 72, and Sam Champion, 54, appeared together on the show on Thursday and on its "40 for 40" livestream. The old gang recalled memories of working on the show. Gibson talked about working with Sawyer, his former co-anchor, on her first day. She joined Gma in 1999 after working as morning news reporter for CBS, a correspondent for CBS' 60 Minutes for five years and later, as a co-anchor of ABC's Primetime Live and 20/20.  "What I...

Almost exactly ten years ago, Robin Roberts was facing one of the most difficult moments of her life.

"The morning after [Hurricane Katrina hit], I was there on the Gulf Coast reporting and I broke down. It was the first time I had ever done that," the Good Morning America co-anchor, 54, tells People. "I had been driving all night long and lost contact with my family, who was in Biloxi, Mississippi, at the time. I didn't know when I was driving what I would find."

Though she found her family, Roberts recalls "just crying like a baby" on air when asked about them by her co-anchor Charlie Gibson.

Several in the works projects have secured some directors.

"Hitman: Agent 47" director Aleksander Bach is set to helm the alien invasion tale "Revoc" for Summit Entertainment and Mandeville Films/TV. Joe Robert Cole penned the script for the grounded sci-fi epic, but plot details are being kept under wraps. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing.

Next up, Alex Ranarivelo has signed on to direct the drama "Running Wild" for Esx Entertainment. Brian Rudnick penned the script while Forrest Lucas and Ali Afshar will produce and filming begins mid-August in California's Napa Valley.

The story follows a widowed ranch owner who works with ex convicts to rehabilitate the wild horses that wander onto her property. In doing so she saves her ranch, but must confront prejudice, greed, vanity and bureaucracy.

After that comes word that "It Follows" director David Robert Mitchell will next be tackling an untitled project which...

ABC News executives are smiling wide Tuesday as ratings for the second quarter show “World News Tonight” with David Muir won total viewers and the advertising-coveted 25-54 demo over NBC “Nightly News.” The total viewers victory is the first quarter victory for ABC in eight years, when Charlie Gibson was anchor. Wnt attracted 7,853,000 viewers and 1,902,000 demo viewers; Nightly News drew 7,810,000 viewers and 1,829,000 demo viewers; CBS Evening News brought in 6,675,000 viewers and 1,488,000 demo viewers. Also Read: David Muir's ABC Newscast Wins First May Sweeps in 8 Years ABC also won the 18-49 demo with 1,307,000 viewers. The victory for ABC marks a.

For the first time in more than six years, ABC’s World News With Diane Sawyer beat NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams in the news demo for a second consecutive week. Last time it happened it wasn’t “with Diane Sawyer” because Charlie Gibson was anchoring back in March of ’08 when ABC’s newscast last enjoyed two weeks of demo ratings wins.. Sawyer took over as anchor in December of 2009. The week of April 14, ABC’s newscast also posted its largest victory over NBC’s in that 25-54 age bracket in more than five years. Sawyer’s newscast beat Williams’ by 85,000 demo viewers. One week earlier, Sawyer’s win was by a slim 12,000 demo viewers. ABC’s newscast bested NBC in head-to-head competition on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during the week of April 14. Season to date, World News has narrowed its season margin with NBC Nightly News in Adults...

ABC’s 20/20 co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas, who has not been seen on the air since October 18, is being treated in a rehab facility for alcohol dependency, the news division confirmed this afternoon. “We are proud of the steps Elizabeth has taken and are pulling for her recovery,” ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said in a statement. “We look forward to having her back home at ABC News, where she has done so much distinguished work over the years. Elizabeth is a member of our family, and we will support her in every way we can.” Vargas began treatment shortly after her last appearance on ABC. Before joining 20/20, Vargas and Bob Woodruff were named permanent co-anchors of ABC’s evening newscast in December 2005 following the death of Peter Jennings. Vargas solo-anchored for a period after Woodruff was badly injured in Iraq in early ’06. On May 23, 2006, Vargas officially resigned from World News Tonight...

ABC News will officially announce tomorrow that Good Morning America has won the morning infotainment war for a full TV season. It marks Gma‘s first victory since the 1992-93 season in the news demographic, and in total viewers for the first time since the 1993-1994 TV season when the show was co-hosted by Charlie Gibson and Joan Lunden. Gma not only won every week of the season in total viewers (it won 43 weeks in the news demo), it also copped the No. 1-rated telecast of each of those weeks. For the full 51-week season (Nielsen specialed-out Hurricane Sandy Week owing to massive schedule, and reception, interruption), Gma clocked about 5.3 million total viewers and nearly 2 million adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. Growing for a third straight year — up 9% compared to last season’s total viewer average of around 4.9 million — Gma won the 2012-13 season with its largest overall...

Sitting in a white fluffy bathrobe in front of her bathroom mirror, Robin Roberts - still recuperating from a bone marrow transplant just five months earlier - seems at ease with her striking reflection. Just as she was after battling breast cancer in 2007, Roberts is once again bald, but this time she's skipping the wig. "Whatever," the Good Morning America anchor says with a shrug. "I'm thankful I have a pretty-good-shaped head." And the 30 lbs. she's lost from her 5'10" frame during her month-long hospital stay? "It's been hard to put back on, a first in my life," she admits.

When CNN’s Candy Crowley was announced as the moderator of the second presidential debate back in August, she was lauded for being the first female to be selected for that honor since ABC’s Carole Simpson in 1992. That seemed to be enough of a historical footnote to recognize her role as referee — typically a thankless, forgettable role that is rightfully overshadowed by the rhetorical combatants. But after Jim Lehrer was roundly criticized for being a pushover in the first debate and Martha Raddatz seemed to respond to his passive performance by asserting herself more boldly in the vice-president’s debate,...

Put a bird on this: IFC is serving up an extra offering of Portlandia.

Portlandia: The Brunch Special, featuring a director’s cut of the Season 2 finale “Brunch Village,” will air July 20 at 11/10c. Viewers will also get a never-before-seen glimpse into the making of the half-hour, which includes guest appearances from celebrity chef Bobby Flay, Saturday Night Live chief Lorne Michaels and Desperate Housewives’ Kyle MacLachlan .

Related | Fall TV Preview: Your Guide to What’s New!

Additionally, a marathon of fan-selected episodes will air from 6 to 10 pm before the special.

Ready for more of today’s TV dish?...

"Good Morning America" won't be left high and dry when Robin Roberts goes on medical leave in a couple months -- TMZ has learned, producers are arranging a star-studded list of substitutes to sit in for her.As we reported, Roberts was diagnosed in April with myelodysplastic syndrome -- a serious blood and bone marrow disease -- and has already begun chemotherapy treatment ... before her big bone marrow transplant in a few months.As for...

For the first time in 16 years, ABC's "Good Morning America" edged out NBC's "Today" in the morning show ratings last week -- and this morning, ABC News rubbed it in NBC's face ... throwing a champagne-popping victory party.All the big swinging chicks at ABC were present ... including Robin Roberts, Diane Sawyer, and Lara Spencer -- in addition to ABC News President Ben Sherwood, Senior Ep Tom Cibrowski, former "Gma" host Charlie Gibson, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion...

Chicago – You may be surprised by the angle taken by HBO’s controversial “Game Change,” a film already being summarily dismissed by conservative pundits who probably haven’t even seen the piece and merely assume that it’s another liberal Hollywood hatchet job. It’s not that at all. Yes, it does not make Sarah Palin nor the staff behind John McCain’s failed Presidential campaign look all that smart but it does break down some key failures of what happened on the Republican side of the ticket in 2008 in ways that take these people from “SNL” parodies to real people. It humanizes the people behind the sound bites and does so with three of the best performances on television in the last few years. It’s fantastic in so many ways.

TV Rating: 4.5/5.0

The team behind the excellent “Recount” (director Jay Roach and writer Danny Strong) try to offer...

It used to be that a politician had to be a Kennedy to get a juicy, tell-all movie made about them. On the odd chance that you can't get enough of this year's colorful Republican primaries -- if lurid accusations of Newt Gingrich's 'open marriage' or saucy rumors of Herman Cain's romantic conquests haven't been enough for you -- or if you think all the pizazz went out of the campaign once Michele Bachmann left the race (can anyone else say "Obama is a socialist" with such a winning smile?), then HBO's frothy Game Change, which debuts this Saturday March 10th, may be the remedy for you. Game Change is pure political soap opera, and in fleeting moments it even makes for compelling drama - though to be fair, Game Change is probably not an accurate view into the behind-the-scenes dynamics of the 2008 McCain campaign, or into the personality of its megawatt star,...

When Sarah Palin declared two weeks ago that she "wasn't too concerned about a HBO movie based on a false narrative," you knew instantaneously that she was fudging it more than a little bit about Game Change. Of course she cared. Just today she launched a video on her SarahPAC website defending her performance in the 2008 campaign and issued a statement that the film "presents a history that never happened."

A week ago Palin unleashed her dogs on HBO and, almost as predictably, on John McCain's senior campaign advisor Steve Schmidt, who has made his disdain for Palin quite public since the 2008 election. In a recent forum sponsored by the New Yorker, Schmidt openly acknowledged that Palin was "clearly not prepared for the presidency."

As part of the orchestrated pushback to Game Change, no fewer than seven of Palin's associates took to the telephone wires angrily denouncing HBO's upcoming fiilm,...

"The Adventures of Tintin" dominated the nominations but it was "Rango" that received the most trophies at the 10th Visual Effects Society (Ves) awards. Stan Lee received the the Lifetime Achievement Award and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received the George Melies Award. Patton Oswalt hosted the event held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Antonion Banderas, Lou Ferrigno, director Chris Miller, Marc Webb, and Jennifer Yuh Nelson presented awards. But the surprise appearance by Martin Scorsese was the highlight of the evening.

Here's the full list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 10th Annual Ves Awards, to visit our Awards Avenue coverage of other award-giving bodies, winners and nominees, click here:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture

Captain America: The First Avenger

Charlie Noble

Mark Soper

Christopher Townsend

Edson Williams

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Tim Burke

Emma Norton

John Richardson

David Vickery...

Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Captain America: The First Avenger Charlie Noble Mark Soper Christopher Townsend Edson Williams Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Tim Burke Emma Norton John Richardson David Vickery Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Gary Brozenich David Conley Charlie Gibson Ben Snow Rise of the Planet of the Apes Dan Lemmon Joe Letteri Cyndi Ochs Kurt Williams Transformers: Dark of the Moon Scott Benza Wayne Billheimer Matthew Butler Scott Farrar Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture Anonymous Andre Cantarel Volker Engel Rony Soussan Marc Weigert Hugo Ben Grossmann Alex Henning Rob Legato Karen Murphy Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Laya Armian Chas Jarrett Seth Maury Sirio Quintavalle Source Code Annie Godin Louis Morin War Horse Duncan Burbidge Ben Morris Mike Mulholland Chris Zeh Outstanding Visual...

The visual effects that we are seeing in movies these days are absolutely mind blowing. At this point it doesn't seem like there's any excuse for a film to have bad visual effects unless the people hired lack talent, or the studio is keeping the cash in their pockets.

There's a lot of good nomination this year such as Captain America, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Out of all of these I think that Planet of the Apes might take home the top prize, those apes were incredibly freaky looking. Weta did an amazing job with this movie, and out of all the other nominations this was the movie I was most impressed by. What are your thoughts? What movie did you think have the best visual effect in 2011?

Here's the full press release with all of the nominations:

Los Angeles,...

The Visual Effects Society (Ves) today announced the nominees for its 10th Annual Ves Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games. Nominees were chosen Saturday, January 7 by distinguished panels of Ves members who viewed submissions at the FotoKem screening facilities in Burbank and New York, FotoKem's Spy in San Francisco, and other facilities in London, Sydney, Vancouver and Wellington, Nz.

"The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories," said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. "The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We're honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time."

As previously announced,...

Visual Effects (as well as Special Effects) are at the core of many a movie, advert and TV show. From gigantic monsters tearing down buildings to the more basic wire removal, your viewing would be very different. The 10th Annual Visual Effects Society have announced their nominations, for the VFX industry. And while many of these names may not be instantly recognisable to many of you, take a look at the categories and then remember back to that particular scene etc. These are the people that brought the smiles, the oohs and the jaw drops! The nominees are… Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Captain America: The First Avenger Charlie Noble Mark Soper Christopher Townsend Edson Williams Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Tim Burke Emma Norton John Richardson David Vickery Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Gary Brozenich David Conley Charlie Gibson Ben.

By Sean O’Connell

hollywoodnews.com: Over the weekend, the Visual Effects Society announced the nominees for its 10th Annual Ves Awards ceremony, recognizing summer tentpoles (“Harry Potter,” “Captain America”) and surprise hits (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Hugo”) for their outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.

“The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. “The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”

As previously announced, Stan Lee will be honored with the Ves 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and...

The Movie Pool joins a Q&A with Ben Snow, the Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Australian native Ben Snow of Industrial Light and Magic has been responsible for some of the most iconic cinematic visual effects of recent times. His first job was creating the CGI Enterprise for Star Trek: Generations, and he later went on to work on films including Twister, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Mummy, and Galaxy Quest. He has been nominated for Academy Awards for his work on Pearl Harbor, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Iron Man, and Iron Man 2. For his latest project, he took to the high seas for the latest Jack Sparrow adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Among his challenges were bringing mermaids to life and melding CGI effects into a real-world environment.

The Movie Pool recently...

The Movie Pool joins a Q&A with Ben Snow, the Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Australian native Ben Snow of Industrial Light and Magic has been responsible for some of the most iconic cinematic visual effects of recent times. His first job was creating the CGI Enterprise for Star Trek: Generations, and he later went on to work on films including Twister, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Mummy, and Galaxy Quest. He has been nominated for Academy Awards for his work on Pearl Harbor, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Iron Man, and Iron Man 2. For his latest project, he took to the high seas for the latest Jack Sparrow adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Among his challenges were bringing mermaids to life and melding CGI effects into a real-world environment.

The Movie Pool recently...

I was lucky enough to participate in a roundtable discussion with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow. It was a pleasure to be a part of this interesting talk, so read on below for Ben’s insights.

Ben Snow

When producing the mermaids-scenes, what where your inspirations for their movement and the general “look” of the mermaids?

Ben Snow: We wanted to avoid the classic ‘woman in a mono-fin’ that has been seen in past mermaid films so we studied a variety of marine mammals and fish for the motion of the mermaids. We also had synchronized swimmers and professional athletes that we filmed on set to help guide the animation. As for the look, we were trying to create something different than what you’ve seen before but keep it rooted in reality. We used reference of sea life, human skin, etc.

This week, Wamg had the opportunity to participate in a virtual roundtable with Ben Snow, the Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic (Ilm) for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and ask him some questions about his experiences in the visual effects world.

Raised in rural Australia, Ben Snow studied computing and film at the University of Canberra. He did a variety of work and traveled extensively before working as a runner for a computer graphics house in London. Snow later returned to Australia to set up the computer animation department for a company in Sydney where he worked on commercials, broadcast idents and openers, including a computer graphics title sequence for Beyond 2000.

Snow left Australia to join Industrial Light & Magic in 1994, where his first project was to help create the three-dimensional computer graphics image of the .Enterprise B. for Star Trek: Generations. This version had...

From Johnny Depp's escape from a burning lighthouse to the creation of mermaids for the movie, visual-effects master Charlie Gibson gives us the lowdown.

By Eric Ditzian

Johnny Depp

Photo: MTV News

It's one thing to watch an eye-popping scene in a CG-laden blockbuster and go, "How the heck did they do that?" It's quite another to have the filmmakers behind those scenes pull back the cinematic curtain and explain what it took to put the footage up onscreen.

That's exactly what we've been doing for some of the biggest movies in Hollywood, from a cinematographer breaking down that epic hallway fight scene in "Inception," to a visual-effects supervisor detailing the digital creation of a young Jeff Bridges in "Tron," to a director walking us through how to build a scream-inducing sequence in "Paranormal Activity 2."

Now we turn our attention to "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and...

From Johnny Depp's escape from a burning lighthouse to the creation of mermaids for the movie, visual-effects master Charlie Gibson gives us the lowdown.

By Eric Ditzian

Johnny Depp

Photo: MTV News

It's one thing to watch an eye-popping scene in a CG-laden blockbuster and go, "How the heck did they do that?" It's quite another to have the filmmakers behind those scenes pull back the cinematic curtain and explain what it took to put the footage up onscreen.

That's exactly what we've been doing for some of the biggest movies in Hollywood, from a cinematographer breaking down that epic hallway fight scene in "Inception," to a visual-effects supervisor detailing the digital creation of a young Jeff Bridges in "Tron," to a director walking us through how to build a scream-inducing sequence in "Paranormal Activity 2."

Now we turn our attention to "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and...

This weekend, director Roger Mitchell (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes) and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wear Prada, 27 Dresses) unleash a new romantic comedy effort upon the willing eyes of the nation. Morning Glory is the story of Becky (Rachel McAdams), a producer for fictional network Ibs' failing morning show, and her struggles to get the show high enough in the ratings to keep her job. Sadly, her first hire – Harrison Ford's Mike Pomeroy – is reluctant to do anything besides hard news and his co-anchor – Diane Keaton's Colleen Peck – is just about fed up with hosting a show that's consistently last amongst the networks. Along the way, Becky finds a sympathetic shoulder to cry on and romantic interest in news producer Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson) and aims to please her Ibs boss Jerry Barnes (Jeff Goldblum) all the while trying to balance her chaotic work life with her...

A poll conducted last year by Time has revealed that The Daily Show's Jon Stewart is the most trusted news anchor in America. He beat Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson, and Katie Couric. Walter Cronkite, having just entered his grave, must already be turning over in it. Stewart won with 44 percent of the vote. Brian Williams came in a distant second with 29 percent. See the results here. Like many others of my generation, I enjoy The Daily Show. I find Jon Stewart to be intelligent and his irreverence is often refreshing, if occasionally too snarky or foul for my palate. Still, I wonder what it says about my generation when we vote someone like Stewart to be the most trusted voice in American news -- especially when The Daily Show makes no claim of being a reputable journalistic enterprise. When...

I heard about Flashpoint in the most unexpected circumstance - at a dinner table. I was at one of those casual dinners that have the perfectly eclectic mix of New York personalities. Bill Bradley was there (former senator and New York Knick player). Charlie Gibson was there talking about his retirement. Marie Brenner of Vanity Fair was there dominating the room with her intellectual prowess. I just so happened to be sitting next to an incredibly bright investor type, who, in the course of the evening, mentioned this very cool digital arts school in Chicago called Flashpoint Academy. Little did my new dinner companion know that I had been hired by Tribeca to identify opportunities in the education space. As Tribeca has a long history in education through its non-profit Institute, an expansion in this area only seemed right. However, all the research and all the schools I looked at...

The nightly news just got a whole lot more stylish!!

Katie and Diane, you’re both pros when it comes to bringing serious style into your professional looks, both on and off camera! And with Diane Sawyer taking over for Charlie Gibson (staring tonight!) on ABC’s World News going head-to-head with Katie Couric on CBS Evening News, you can expect to receive your news in style from these leading ladies of primetime! Both Katie and Diane stick to modern working woman basics, (from colorful tops and chic suits to blazers and knee-high boots).

So, who do you think will look better behind the news desk? We turned to the experts, celebrity stylist Robert Verdi and John Barrett, owner of John Barrett Salon in NYC to get their take on the anchor lady face-off!

Robert thinks both ladies are super stylish! “Diane knows how to look professional without ever losing...

Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (McT) -- When future historians write about the Age of the TV Anchor, Charlie Gibson will probably merit little more than a footnote, a fleeting mention that he was the fellow who kept the seat warm between the reigns of King Jennings and Queen Sawyer. Gibson deserves better. It's true that Gibson, 66, who signs off Friday from his hosting duties at "World News Tonight," didn't revolutionize the job the way Walter Cronkite did. In fact, his…...

As of today, there's a new face of "Good Morning America," and what a young looking face it is. Many will be surprised to hear that new co-host George Stephanopoulos is actually 48-years-old. If you do the math back to his days in the Clinton campaign back in 1992, he'd have to be at least that. Still he looks like a 22-year-old college grad. "Gma" execs said they picked George with one thought in mind, "How can we best serve our audience?" But it sure seems like they picked him to draw in a more youthful viewership now that 63-year-old Diane Sawyer has gone off to replace Charlie Gibson on "ABC World News."

Read more about George's new gig here.

Diane Sawyer said, "Good morning, America" one last time today on her final broadcast before taking over the evening news for the retiring Charlie Gibson on Dec. 21. She was smiling and emotional this morning (after what she described as roughly 2,881 shows), basking in the attention (and tears) of co-anchor Robin Roberts, who called Sawyer the "queen of morning television." The two also welcomed new co-anchor George Stephanopoulos and news anchor Juju Chang, who'll begin on Monday. Any Gma regulars out there shed a tear along with Diane today? What are some of your fondest memories of the queen's reign? What...

By Wrap Staff

Chris Cuomo confirmed on Thursday's "Good Morning America" that he is leaving that show to join "20/20."

Watch the video here.

Cuomo remains within the ABC family with the shift, becoming co-anchor with Elizabeth Vargas of the primetime newsmagazine.

Friday is his last day as news reader on the morning show. That's also Diane Sawyer's last day before she leaves to take the anchor desk on ABC's "World News Tonight" from the retiring Charlie Gibson.

"This Week's" George Stephanopoulos is joining "Gma" in S...

As previously reported on Zap2it, George Stephanopoulos will join ABC's "Good Morning America" as anchor according to Politico.com.

The news comes as no surprise to most industry watchers and the network is expected to make the official announcement on Thursday (Dec. 10).

Speculation of Stephanopoulos' impending move to "Gma" heated up once it was announced that Diane Sawyer would be departing the morning show to anchor ABC's evening's "World News" after Charlie Gibson stepped down.

The report also claims that Stephanopoulos could join his new morning colleagues -- Robin Roberts and newly assigned newsreader JuJu Chang -- as early as Monday (Dec. 14).

Stephanopoulos is expected to continue hosting Sunday's "This Week" in the near term, but will eventually give up those duties to focus solely on "Gma."

The question of whether or not co-host Chris Cuomo will remain with "Gma" still lingers with conflicting reports about his resignation emerging this past weekend.

To the three of you who still watch the news on a regular basis, here's some news you would have seen coming.

ABC World News' lead anchor Charlie Gibson has announced his retirement. He will leave the show on Dec. 18 and Diane Sawyer will take over the anchor's chair on Dec. 21.

He has only been the station's lead news anchor since May of 2006 when he stepped in for Bob Woodruff who sustained injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq. Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas replaced World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings who left due to medical reasons.

 

Filed under: News, Reality-Free

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Charles Gibson will sign off from "World News" on Dec. 18, the newscast's executive producer Jon Banner wrote on the "World Newser" blog Tuesday.

"It's that time of year in this great country of ours when we give thanks for family and friends and focus on the things that matter most to us," Banner wrote. "It's no different here in the newsroom, where we are preparing to see our very good friend and anchor off as he begins a new journey."

Gibson announced in September that he planned to retire from the anchor job on "World News."

"We're going to spend a good deal of time during his final week on the air looking back at the stories Charlie covered, hearing again from some of the remarkable people he interviewed, and paying tribute to our friend and colleague, and the enormous contribution he has made to ABC News over the last three decades.

True to the title of her upcoming book, Sarah Palin will be "Going Rogue" on TV next week.

While she'll be playing it safe on her book tour by sticking to smaller cities where she has devoted followings, Palin is venturing deep into hostile territory on the boob tube. On Monday, she goes face to face with Oprah Winfrey, an avowed supporter of Barack Obama, followed by ABC News' Barbara Walters.

It's a risk she is willing to make to maximize sales for "Going Rogue: An American Life," reaching out beyond the conservative base that will also tune her in sitting for interviews with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren.

But the risk isn't that Winfrey or Walters will harshly interrogate Palin out of some politically motivated animus; neither seems particularly ideologically driven on air (Winfrey never actually supported Obama within the context of her...

It's less than three months until Diane Sawyer replaces the retiring Charlie Gibson as the anchor of ABC's 'World News,' and yet there's no word on a successor for Sawyer as the star of ABC News' cash cow, 'Good Morning America.' You'd think the ... Read more

Filed under: TV News Daily, Hot Topic

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By Peter McAlevey

Dear Mr. Iger; As a former Disney executive and stockholder (I think I still have some shares kicking around in my Ira), I understand why you might want to put Diane Sawyer in Charles Gibson’s seat as the face of ABC News. Heck, I wasn’t even a huge Charlie Gibson fan. But to replace him with “Nixon Weathergirl” Sawyer is inexplicable -- save that you want to destroy what credibility you have left as a network! Let’s look at Diane Sawyer -- America’s “Junior Miss” in 1963 (wasn’t that before the hip...

We are women, hear us roar the news. The announcement last week that Diane Sawyer would take over the reigns of ABC World News Tonight in 2010 means that for the first time in American television history two women will fill the big three networks primetime solo anchor chairs.

To which I say, geez, about damn time.

Sawyer joins CBS’s Katie Couric and NBC’s Brian Williams as the face of the flagship evening news shows. After decade upon decade of seeing middle-ages white men tell us the important news of the day, women will finally fill the majority of the prestigious slots.

Still, while this is a great step forward for gender equity (alas, we’re still working on racial and other diversity — baby steps), the move comes at a time when network news is struggling in the ratings against an onslaught of cable chatter. This, in turn, has...

It was big news this week about Charlie Gibson retiring. Later on, when the headline flashed that Charlie was "livid" that Diane Sawyer was chosen to succeed him at the ABC World News anchor desk, I have to admit I was stunned. Why on earth would Charlie Gibson be so vexed by his former Good Morning America partner taking on the job he had chosen to give up?

The Daily Beast story claimed that his reaction came from a unnamed source, and that's what Variety's Bltv was writing about today. He suggested that perhaps the reporter, Rebecca Dana, had relied too much on scuttlebutt and chose to believe that Gibson was ticked off and, thus, went with the story.Continue reading Is Charlie Gibson livid about Diane Sawyer succeeding him?

 

Filed under: News, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free

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Both are blonde, slim, and adept at reading teleprompters. But Diane Sawyer had better hope that’s where the comparisons between herself and Katie Couric will end, as she takes over from Charlie Gibson as the anchor of ABC’s World News in January. When Katie Couric left NBC’s The Today Show to host The CBS Evening News in 2006, becoming the first woman to ever assume the prestigious position of network anchor. She was met with a barrage of criticism from her peers in the media when she left the warm, cozy confines of morning television. What prompted the grumblings, aside from Couric’s informal delivery and lack of a signature sign-off, was largely her physical appearance. Style “experts” across the media were brought in to nitpick her make-up, hairstyle, and wardrobe—Her bronzer was too heavy! She wore white after Labor Day! She chopped off her hair in an inappropriate pixie-style cut!

Move over Katie Couric, there's a new girl in town. It was announced yesterday that Diane Sawyer will replace retiring anchor Charlie Gibson on ABC "World News" in January. Women will now outnumber the men two-to-one at the national news desk. Is that good news or bad news for lone male anchor, Brian Williams? Actually, Katie should be the one quaking in her boots. Despite her beauty paegent past and Hollywood ties (she dated Warren Beatty and married director, Michael Nichols), Sawyer has never been called perky or lightweight. She stands to give Couric a real run for her ratings.

• TV’s favorite mega-family, the Duggars, announces child No. 19 will join the cast next spring. [MSNBC] • Does the State Department have any idea how to make extremists like us? [Foreign Policy] • Here are some of the lesser known Barack facial expressions. [Jimmy Fallon] • More women taking the anchor’s chair in American news: Diane Sawyer is set to replace Charlie Gibson as the ABC World News anchor. [Huff Post] • How much does it cost to take over Ted Kennedy’s seat? Somewhere between $3 and $4 million. [Politico]...

News anchor Diane Sawyer is moving from "Good Morning America" to "World News" to replace longtime anchor Charlie Gibson.

Gibson has anchored "World News" with Elizabeth Vargas since 2006. ABC News confirms that Gibson will soon retire. ABC News President David Westin tells TVNewser, "Diane's presence will certainly be missed on 'Good Morning America.' But we are fortunate that both Charlie and Diane will remain with their current broadcasts for the next four months."

Sawyer...

Diane Sawyer is taking over the ABC evening news slot left open after Charlie Gibson announced his retirement. ABC made the announcement Wednesday that veteran reporter Diane Sawyer will replace the retiring Charlie Gibson, reported first by the New York Post. Sawyer was a protégé of the late Don Hewitt. Mr. Hewitt hired Sawyer in 1984 as the first female reporter on "60 Minutes." It was recently revealed that at a black tie political dinner party, Hewitt once made Sawyer crawl under the table and out of the room to scoop the competition on some fact he had learned, Sawyer told the Wall Street Journal. She then broadcast the scoop on CBS radio that same night. "He greeted every...

Guess Charles Gibson has decided it's somebody else's turn to kick Katie Couric's butt in the ratings. The veteran journo announced today that he will retire from ABC's World News Tonight at the end of the year, turning the anchor desk over to his old Good Morning America cohort Diane Sawyer. Gibson, 66, took over the World News desk in May 2006, succeeding cohosts Elizabeth Vargas (who left to have a baby) and Bob Woodruff (who was severely injured in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq) after they were on the job just six months. At the time, Gibson had been planning to leave the network but decided to stay on, eventually leading World News Tonight past rivals NBC's Nightly News With Brian...

"The Insider" confirms that Diane Sawyer is saying farewell to "Good Morning America" and hello to nightly news.  Sawyer will be replacing Charlie Gibson on ABC's "World News" beginning in January.  "Diane Sawyer is the right person to succeed Charlie and build on what he has accomplished," ABC News president David Westin said in a statement. "She has an outstanding and varied career in television journalism, beginning with her role as a State Department correspondent and continuing at '60 Minutes,' 'Primetime Live,' and 'Good Morning America.'" Gibson has been the anchor of "World News" since May 2006, after replacing Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff. "It has not been an easy decision to make," Gibson said in an email to the "World News" staff. "This has been my professional home for almost 35 years. And I love this news department, and all who work in it, to the depths of my soul.