Major shakeup hits ABC's 'GMA3,' but insider says show 'not being shut down' despite chatter
The departures of Pilgrim and Morgan prompted questions about the future of the program, which was already hit with layoffs this year. The Status media newsletter wrote that "ABC News is all but throwing in the towel" on the program and TV Insider published a headline bluntly asking, "Is 'GMA3' Going to Be Canceled at ABC?"
However, the scandal-plagued program isn't going away anytime soon, according to a well-placed source.
"The show is not being shut down," an ABC News source told Fox News Digital.
"Good Morning America" executive producer Simone Swink took control of "GMA3" last year. The source pointed to a new studio and look that are more in sync with Swink's flagship "Good Morning America" as evidence that ABC is making an effort to grow the spinoff "GMA3."
ABC News personalities Will Reeve, Lara Spencer, Sam Champion, Linsey Davis, James Longman, Rachel Scott, Janai Norman, Gio Benitez and Whit Johnson have all guest hosted the program in recent weeks and a similar rotation is expected to continue.
"GMA3" gained national attention in 2022 when then-hosts T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach got caught up in a headline-grabbing cheating scandal. Their relationship, which began while they were both married to other people, resulted in them being benched for two months before they agreed to exit ABC.
As the drama unfolded, tabloids essentially covered their every step, keeping scandalous headlines about the Disney-owned network at the forefront. At the time, ABC News insiders said the affair was brutal for the family brand that is so important to Disney, ABC News' parent company.
The program has shed viewers since the cheating scandal. "GMA3" averaged 1.6 million total viewers in 2022 before the affair emerged as tabloid fodder and has since averaged 1.4 million for a 13% drop.
The decline is worst among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, as it has shed 24% of those critical viewers since Robach and Holmes were revealed to be more than friendly co-anchors.
ABC touts "GMA3" beating CBS' "The Talk" and "NBC News Daily" when promoting the daytime program.
However, "GMA3" loses to a variety of Fox News Channel's morning and daytime offerings, including "FOX & Friends," "America's Newsroom," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "The Story," "America Reports" and "The Will Cain Show."
ABC honchos long wanted to expand "Good Morning America" to three hours, but Kelly Ripa's "Live" program rates well at 9 a.m. ET when a third hour would naturally fit. ABC began tinkering with a daytime version of "GMA" in 2018 when Michael Strahan and Sara Haines hosted "GMA Day."
The program has since had several makeovers and was known as "Pandemic: What You Need to Know" during the early stages of COVID. It was eventually renamed "GMA3: What you Need to Know" and then shortened to simply "GMA3."
ABC News' Almin Karamehmedovic addressed staffers about the exits of Pilgrim and Morgan.
"I wanted to share that Eva Pilgrim has decided to embark on her next chapter and will be departing ABC News. She has been a wonderful member of the ABC News team for more than a decade, coming to us from ABC-owned station WPVI in Philadelphia," Karamehmedovic wrote in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.
He went on to tout Pilgrim's successes at the network and thanked her for "many years of friendship and hard work."
Pilgrim was named the new host of the syndicated program "Inside Edition."
Karamehmedovic also told ABC News staffers that Morgan "has decided to begin a new journey and will be departing ABC News," although it is unclear if he has another gig lined up.
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