In November, “Good Morning America” will hit a unique milestone of being on the air for 50 years. Starting Tuesday, the show aims to wake up viewers and fans by kicking off the celebration.
A promo that debuts Tuesday morning features the program’s broader array of hosts and correspondents — not behind the desk at the show’s longtime Times Square Studios home but out meeting fans and regular people. George Stephanopoulos and his spouse, Ali Wentworth, hang out with passers-by in Central Park. Robin Roberts visits a store run by her sister in their Mississippi hometown. Michael Strahan holds forth from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.
But the A.M. show’s central trio aren’t the only ones in the sunlight. The promo also features longtime anchor Lara Spencer, with her daughter and dogs; weather guru Ginger Zee, visiting a local farmer’s market; Will Reeve with his wife; Rebecca Jarvis with her family; and veteran weather correspondent Sam Champion. There are only brief shots of anyone hanging out in a newsroom.
“We wanted to show the extended family you’re seeing on air every day,” says Simone Swink, the senior executive producer of “Good Morning America,” during a recent interview. “We really wanted to showcase our talent with their families and being invited into places all across the country.”
Other traditional media companies have bet on some of their best known programs to generate extra attention — and advertising dollars — in an era when many TV viewers are drawn to the next new thing on streaming platforms. NBCUniversal developed a season-long series of specials this past season tied to the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” and is planning something similar for the 2025-2026 TV season ties to the 100th anniversary of the NBC broadcast network.
ABC News‘ morning mainstay is gearing up for a busy few months, and the promo, which will air across Disney properties, will call attention to those efforts. Viewers can expect several celebrations and interesting segments over the next few months, says Swink, in addition to appearances by past “GMA” hosts including Joan Lunden and Diane Sawyer. What’s more, the show is expected to move to a new studio that is part of corporate parent Disney’s new headquarters in lower Manhattan.
The promo represents “a celebration of the connection we have with our audience,” says Almin Karamehmedovic, president of ABC News, during an interview.
“GMA” launched on November 3, 1975, co-hosted by David Hartman and Nancy Dussault. The show emulated morning concepts already on the air in Cleveland and Boston that played up general interest and entertainment topics, in addition to hard news of the day. Hartman would end up leading the program until February of 1987. In recent years, “GMA” has surpassed NBC’s “Today” to become the most-watched broadcast morning program, though the NBC mainstay continues to win among viewers between 25 and 54 — the audience coveted most by advertisers in news programming.
Even the narration of the new promo is meant to evoke “GMA” history. The vocal duties are handled by Charlie Gibson, who co-hosted “GMA” from 1987 to 1998 and from 1999 to 2006.
