ABC News is facing a crisis. Again.
Sources say the news giant is fretting because it has stars, but no successors.
The network has been without a head of talent for nearly two years, and insiders tell Page Six it’s on its last reserves of A-list news anchors — with no rising stars to replace them.
TJ Holmes and Amy Robach were the last talent who had the chops to follow in Robin Roberts’, George Stephanopoulos’ and Michael Strahan’s footsteps, insiders believe.
But, of course, Holmes and Robach screwed that up when they were fired over their affair scandal in 2022.
Their salacious romance contributed to a tumultuous two years at the network — specifically for former ABC News president Kim Godwin.
According to sources, the brass didn’t fully consider the bigger picture when they axed the former “GMA 3” anchors over their secret relationship.
“Losing them at ‘GMA 3’ wasn’t the point. They were the primary replacements for [flagship morning show] ‘Good Morning America’! That was their real value. Michael, George and Robin take 70 to 80 days off a year. You don’t get rid of people like that so quickly,” one source said.
And with the exception of Linsey Davis, who anchors the Sunday edition of evening news mainstay “World News Tonight,” ABC is seriously lacking heirs to the morning and David Muir’s primetime news throne.
“[ABC has] good correspondents, but they’re not stars. Linsey is not going to be the host of ‘GMA.’ She can easily be David’s replacement,” the source added.
Davis and Muir moderated the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump for the network on Tuesday. Their performance left conservatives seething over what they deemed unfair treatment of their candidate. ABC, however, was very pleased with their performance, according to another insider at the network, who described morale as being at an “all-time high” following the debate. “It was a very proud moment,” they said.
ABC talent Martha Raddatz, Rachel Scott, Mary Bruce and Jonathan Karl anchored a pre- and post-debate special, but “the elephant in the room is they didn’t have George,” the first source said.
Sources told us viewers will “never see [Stephanopoulos] on election night” after the network passed him over for Muir as anchor of “World News Tonight.” He sticks to his duties at “GMA” and “This Week,” with the occasional big sit-down interview, we’re told. A production deal is also a part of Stephanopoulos’ lucrative contract, which he is currently renegotiating, we hear.
Meanwhile, multiple sources told us Muir is increasingly powerful at ABC News because star anchor Roberts, who’s the de facto lead anchor on “GMA,” simply doesn’t care. “She’s the true power, but she doesn’t flex her muscles. She has her own thing, and doesn’t really give a s–t,” the first source said.
Hunky Muir, on the other hand, “calls a lot of the shots,” a third source said. His power became evident when ABC named his executive producer, Almin Karamehmedovic, as the new president of the news division, replacing Godwin, last month. The move baffled many at the company because “no one really knows him. His circle is ‘World News.’ He can’t deal with talent. He’s worked for one guy for 10 years. He’s not going to be able to deal with the ladies of ‘The View,’” which falls under ABC News, the source said.
“He’s only juggled one ego at a time. It’s a whole other level of skill you have to have in order to balance multiple anchors and keep everyone happy. And what if there’s a crisis at ‘The View,’” a fourth source echoed.
The third source described his hire as “kind of a lame duck … Everybody thought it would be Simone [Swink],” they said referring to the executive producer of “GMA,” who has a reputation for being able to handle talent and find new revenue streams, we’re told.
The second source lauded “the ratings and critical success” of last night’s debate coverage as proof that Karamehmedovic is equipped for the job. “It was the finest journalism on display, led by Almin,” they said, adding that he and Swink have been “great partners.”
But while they’ve checked off one executive box, the consensus seems to be there’s still no one in a position to cultivate current and new talent. “It makes no sense that they still haven’t hired a No. 1 and a No. 2 [in the talent department]. They have people who are good, but they don’t have the experience to deal with high-caliber talent,” the fourth insider concluded.
