GMA Names New Executive Team
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/26/2006 3:34:00 PM
ABC News tapped a new executive team to lead Good Morning America in its bid to unseat NBC's Today show in the network morning wars.
As previously reported by B&C, former CBS Evening News executive producer Jim Murphy is joining GMA as senior executive producer. He'll be assisted by a GMA veteran, new executive producer Tom Cibrowski, currently the show's senior broadcast producer. The duo will take their new posts in September and jointly oversee the program.
“Jim Murphy and Tom Cibrowski are two of the most talented news producers in the business,” ABC News President David Westin.“They are producers with tremendous experience in broadcast news and can do it all from breaking hard news to compelling features.I know they will lead the program, along with Diane and Robin, to new heights as we move forward to September.”
Murphy and Cibrowski will arrive as GMA is adjusting to Charlie Gibson leaving for World News and Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts as co-anchors. At the same time, Today is going through major changes, with Katie Couric gone to CBS and new anchor Meredith Vieira arriving in September.
Murphy says GMA is well positioned for the fight. "We want to be in complete competition for first place in the morning," he says. "We have people on air who are spectacular journalists and warm broadcasters."
Both Murphy and Cibrowski are veterans of network morning news. Murphy previously worked on CBS' morning show and Cibrowski has been with GMA for four years.
Murphy will report to ABC News senior VP of morning, prime time and development Phyllis McGrady. The network has been seeking a new top GMA exec since current EP Ben Sherwood announced in June he will leave to move back to Los Angeles for personal reasons.
To complement Roberts and Sawyer, GMA is expected to add several personalities, including a "male presence," Cibrowski says. But both executives emphasized that Roberts and Sawyer are a strong anchor duo. "We want to hit ground running with a fantastic program led by Robin and Diane and surround them with some new members that complement them," Cibrowski says.
