Spotlight
By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/31/2006
ABC News has named two executive producers to lead Good Morning America in its bid to unseat NBC’s Today show in the network morning wars.
As previously reported in 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 TomCibrowski, currently senior broadcast producer. The duo will jointly oversee the program, beginning in September.
“Jim Murphy and Tom Cibrowski are two of the most talented news producers in the business,” says 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.”
GMA is adjusting to Charlie Gibson’s departure for World News and to the anchor team of Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. 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 previously worked on CBS’ morning show, and Cibrowski has been with GMA for four years.
GMA is expected to add several personalities, including a “male presence,” Cibrowski says.
But both executives emphasize that Roberts and Sawyer are a strong anchor duo. “We want to hit the ground running,” Cibrowski says, “with a fantastic program led by Robin and Diane and surround them with some new members that complement them.”
