WEBVTT - What You Need To Know 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:05.280 Hey, the folks in this episode, did you see about 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:11.320 the latest newest thefty but for us heartbreaking round of 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.720 layoffs making headlines last weekend? With that, Welcome to this 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.759 episode of Amy and TJ Robes. We've been reporting a 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.200 lot about layoffs all over the all over the country. 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:23.560 It seems to pass several weeks having to do with 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.040 the federal government. I guess a lot of that, but 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.360 this round of layoffs hit very close to home, was 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.320 very personal. Were talking about our former network. 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:31.920 That's right. 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.840 I actually got a call from you. I was out 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:40.960 at a lunch and missed the headline that basically most 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.560 of our staff that we worked with daily, that we loved, 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.839 that we were rooting for from Afar was laid off. 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:52.559 Two hundred employees fired from ABC News, and a large 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.560 majority of them came from our former show GMA three. 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.320 Yeah, so we're talking to and again, I guess in media, 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.720 if you work in it long enough, these things just happen. 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:05.080 They these are I mean, these all the times that 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.120 it's happened, it always seems like, oh, this is the 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.039 one that the media industry is a really changing, This 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.679 is the course correction, and maybe this one will be 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.000 because things are going to streaming in digital. But this one, 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.880 when you hear a network like ABC News is laying 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.080 off two hundred people, which was the initial headline, that's 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.520 a big deal. And I guess we shouldn't necessarily be 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.600 surprised about where the industry is going. 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:28.840 We're not surprised about where the industry is going. 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:33.119 We're seeing it everywhere and the ratings are dropping. It's 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.959 not how much you gained year to year, but trying 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.319 to stop the bleeding. So the better off you are 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.600 is the fewer viewers you lost, but that it's a 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.760 game that is not winning, it's losing, and everyone kind 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.080 of knows this. There has to be some major restructuring 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.280 and reevaluating and honestly, how you're going to get younger folks, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.920 younger people to watch television when that really has become 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:58.960 something that kids aren't doing. It isn't a habit of theirs. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.040 They're on their phones, they're their tablets, so they're not 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.360 watching network news. So yes, perhaps this is inevitable. But 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.800 when you see two hundred ABC News employees being fired, 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.880 I think that amounts to about six percent of ABC 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:15.360 News's work staff. When it's concentrated on one show that 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.840 is even more specific and more detrimental to the folks 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.000 who were working on that show, and it was Yes, 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:22.160 it was our show. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.720 So let's if you're not familiar the headlines. I guess 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:28.839 Wall Street General was among the first to report there's 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.639 two hundred employees at ABC News is going to be 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:36.480 let go Nightline in twenty twenty. Those are long standing 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.560 staples of that network. They are now being merged into 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.440 one unit. Obviously robes anytimes there's two staffs merged into one, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.480 people going to lose jobs. Then the five thirty eight website, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.520 A lot of people might not realize or remember five 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.120 thirty eight started by Nate Silver, which did all the 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:57.880 great presidential predictions back around President Barack Obama during his elections. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.080 ABC bought five point thirty eight. Well, now it's letting 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.040 it go. It's being shuttered, so fifteen employees are out 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.840 of a job. So the most jarring I guess changes 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.440 and headlines have to do with Yes, Good Morning America, 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.799 the flagship show where there was GMA and GMA three, 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.920 so three hours of Good Morning America. But folks didn't 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.640 realize that these two operated very separately. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.520 And that was, to be fully honest, That was always 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.760 a frustrating thing for us because we were juggling between 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:34.239 being correspondence and filling anchors for the flagship show Good 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.320 Morning America, and then at the same time being co 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.640 anchors for GMA three. And sometimes you would think that 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.560 would all be harmonious and would all make sense that 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.000 the two would go hand in hand, but oftentimes they 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.400 pushed against each other and it ended up feeling like 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:52.040 we were in a tug of war between GMA and 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:53.440 GMA three, and there. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.200 We were called in the middle of that. It feel 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:55.880 like it was. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.440 We absolutely were caught between the two so being assigned 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.960 two different things, or GMA wants you to go somewhere, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.120 but GMA three wants you back anchoring the show, and 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.240 it was a battle sometimes daily, but certainly weekly. 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.839 It felt like, so this is and this is now 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.360 why we are where we are. They have corrected that 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.440 error now if you will, but they say they've done 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.480 it for financial reasons. So yes, GMA and GMA three 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.760 are literally done in the same building in Times Square 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:25.960 on different floors. GMA uses the GMA three studio plenty, 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.480 but essentially there's just literally one floor up from each other, 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.159 but we all share the same building, all of our 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:33.920 dressing rooms running next to all. 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.920 It was a shared space, and even the floor directors 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.120 and all the folks who were commanding the cameras and 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:43.320 all of those folks all were the same. So it 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.440 was basically the behind the scenes staff for Good Morning 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.080 America just went upstairs. We did a lot of times 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.039 in the eight o'clock hour anyway for GMA, and we 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.480 just kind of shifted anchors. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.080 So the difference, though, being is that GMA is crazy. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.920 We this drove us crazy. We're going to get into that. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:05.680 But GMA and GMA three have two totally different production 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.080 team as far as the producers go in the executive 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:12.000 producer are two totally separate units. So there's not a 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.400 synergy that you would think that these two shows have. 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:19.040 They're completely produced separately from each other. We didn't even 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.560 the producing teams don't necessarily even talk to each other 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.159 and coordinate. They're two separate, totally separate shore. 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.000 Sometimes we were doing the coordinating, going back and forth 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.400 between the executive producers, trying to figure out where we 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.640 were supposed to be, like physically. 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:34.960 On a story or on an assignment. 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.360 So that was always a little confusing because GMA three 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.880 was under the umbrella of ABC News Live, the digital 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.400 online version of ABC News, so it truly was a 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:46.640 completely different status. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.760 And we're gonna explain that to in a second. It 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.120 took us the longest to figure out why exactly that 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.360 was done. But what we're saying here and what we're 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:58.080 setting up was we're explaining why the GMA three staff 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.159 is now gone because it was a separate staff. So 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:03.479 what they've now done is taken GMA three and put 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.480 it completely under the control of GMA and GMA's executive 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.680 producer Simone Swink, so now it's all one unit. And 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.040 to do that, you had to get rid of the 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:16.000 entire staff of GMA three. That entire staff are folks, 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.080 robes who were with you from the very beginning, with me, 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.200 from the very beginning when we started of that show, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.599 and they're all gone now, and we both got that 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.560 news last week. And I will ask you now, you 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.440 know before I ask you that this is important to 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.000 say because people will understand your reaction to it, but 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.479 you have to to fully understand. You have to understand 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.920 how the show started. Now this hour on the network 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:48.440 is around one o'clock GMA three. What was it called 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.400 it first GMI Demic before when stray and uh oh. 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.000 It was it was straight Hand, Sarah and Kekeyankey. First 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.400 it was straight Hand and Sarah. Then it became straighthand 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:01.039 Sarah and kekeyp And then when the pandemicemic hit, it 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:05.240 was very obvious pretty quickly that that show was not 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.560 going to be able to continue in the situation this 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.840 world was in. And it truly was an opportunity to 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.840 create a show that served the public with the information 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.920 that we so desperately needed because things were constantly changing 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.080 and evolving. We were scared for our lives, and I 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.520 felt like, honestly, for the first time in my journalistic career, 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:28.880 I was doing something worthy of public attention and public safety, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.600 and it was I felt so fulfilled starting that show, 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:35.360 just knowing that we were actually giving people potentially life 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.440 saving information. So that's what the show became, or at 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:43.600 least initially began, as it grew from a real organic need. 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.200 But the show was necessary without Now what was the 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.080 name it was a pandemic year, No, it was just 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.560 called pandemic. What you need to know? Yes, right. That 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:56.400 started in March, right of twenty twenty or is it April. 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:57.640 It was March of twenty twenty. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:58.880 I mean when the pandemic hit. 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.640 I got a we got a phone call to head 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.640 up to some executive's office. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.800 I had no idea what it was in reference to. 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:09.320 In fact, I thought they were going to ask me 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.600 to stick around and do some busy work like manning cameras, 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.360 unless in case news broke. I had no idea that 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.120 they were going to ask me to take over that 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:22.360 one o'clock hour from Strayhance, Sarah and Kiki for a 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.160 temporary period of time to get us through the pandemic. 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:28.880 So I was blindsided by the call and the call 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:32.000 to action. But obviously I was very quick to say, 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:33.480 of course I'll do it, of course I'll step in. 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.240 So this is how that hour started. So you go back, folks, 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.040 to March of twenty twenty. It started organically. Robock was 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.439 on set right with doctor Ashton and you will every 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.439 single day, and people were desperate for information. That is 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.079 one of the most necessary shows I've ever been I've 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.559 ever seen in television news because it was just important 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.360 and you were giving information people needed. We start to 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.360 get the pandemic. We're several months into it and maybe 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:59.840 starting to get a handle on it. The show begins 0:08:59.880 --> 0:09:03.560 to evolve and I come on board in the fall 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.240 of twenty twenty as GMA three. What you need to. 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.240 Know, Well, let me actually back up a little bit 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.400 to talk about the evolution as I saw it from 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.079 my perspective. So we were doing the show and I'm 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.200 not even going to credit our great ratings, and they 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:21.720 were unexpectedly even better than anyone could have imagined, because 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.679 of course there was a need. It wasn't that I 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.080 would never take credit that we were doing anything special, 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.880 But all of a sudden, ABC executives saw something finally 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.200 succeed in that hour. They had been struggling to get 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.680 something to succeed in that It's a tough time of day. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.360 Who's home, Who's watching. Well, now you've got the pandemic, 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:42.280 everyone's home, everyone's watching. So we ended up realizing, hey, 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:44.440 we might have some formula that we can build on 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.040 to evolve out of the pandemic. We need to evolve 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.480 into news, we need to evolve into education, we need 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.559 to evolve into other stories beyond the pandemic. 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.720 So we yes, in the fall of twenty twenty. I 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:01.440 do eventually come on board and the show takes off. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.680 And in the first two years we're together, we get 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.800 Immy nominations, so Best Daytime Show, Informative Talk, we get 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.480 Emmy nominations for hosts. I should say we didn't win. 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:14.400 I should say that we did not win. What's the 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:15.160 line were supposed to say? 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.320 It was always an honor to be nominated, which we 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:18.960 did feel. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.760 And we're very I mean seriously, the first you were together. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:26.640 We we knew we had something. We knew I mean, look, 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.000 it was great with Jen and me. That was phenomenal. 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.480 We felt really good about that, but clearly or something missing, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.600 mostly some male energy, let's be honest. 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:35.560 And you came. 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.000 In and brought so much life to that show that 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.720 was necessary. I mean I could go on and on 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.000 about your talent and what you bring. And I was 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:47.000 so excited when I got that phone call that said, Hey, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:51.920 how do you feel about TJ joining you on GMA three? 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.480 And I couldn't have been more excited because you were 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:58.560 the perfect person, the perfect partner in every way for 0:10:58.600 --> 0:10:59.280 a show like that. 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.480 With that text, Now, right, this wasn't just something we 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.920 went after and begged and screamed and yelled for It's 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:10.160 something that actually happened so organically the show did. Us 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.520 being a part of it did, And no, we didn't 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.920 want to leave. Let's be clear here. Yes we did 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.400 not want to leave that show, and we have talked 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:23.080 about it plenty of times. For two people who've been 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.200 in the industry twenty five plus years. At that point, 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:30.640 this was the dream job. We get to do news, 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:34.680 a little entertainment, a little inspiration. It was the perfect 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.600 show and you're getting to do it at the time 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.160 with my best friend. This was a show we did 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:40.000 not want to leave. 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:44.959 I could have done that show for the next twenty 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.679 years and Ben the luckiest person on the planet. 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.360 So folks with that anytime. There were headlines over the 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:56.240 past two plus years since we left that were not 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.440 I guess pleasant or whatever for the show, talking about 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.800 its rainings, what's going on with it? People? We got 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.960 used to get calls from tabloid folks and folks wanted 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.200 to react to things as if we're excited that something's 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.880 not going well that we always we have from the 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:14.920 jump been rooting for GMA three. I would have loved 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.520 Robes I know you would have in ten, fifteen, twenty 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.320 years see that show still thrive and go wow. I 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.480 was there and I helped start that thing. 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.360 I was a part of it absolutely. 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.760 And I will say, look, we have said this publicly too, 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:30.040 but I'll reiterate I have not and TJ has not 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.880 watched that show once since we left, mostly because it 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.520 was too painful too. It wasn't because we were saying, ah, 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.240 I forget them, no it we loved it so much. 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.040 We were so passionate about it that I actually couldn't 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.400 stomach to watch it because it was too hard, because 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.280 it would have been too painful for me to have watched. 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.160 And to say that, we're saying, folks, not even a 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.080 solitary second of that show have we seen since we 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.959 left the network. Now I've passed the television and seeing 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.200 GMA on an airport or at a bar and at 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.560 least look up at the TV. I have no idea. 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.880 And but to your point, that is why it's not 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.240 a bitterness. It's a sadness about what could have been 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:14.959 and something we were proud of it. We were always 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.600 rooting from a distance for that show. So to hear 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.640 now and again the show is going to continue, but 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.839 everybody associated with it has been let go. That show 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.760 doesn't exist the way we saw it, the way we 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.440 started it, the way we left it. So what was 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.120 your reaction? Your first reaction to the news is what 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.560 I wanted to get to and wanted to get the 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.600 context first. But given all that, and folks can understand 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.520 now where we're coming from, to hear that that whole staff, 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.640 that everybody's gone, what did you think? I felt. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:49.800 I'm going to try not to get emotional. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.440 I felt so sad. 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:57.160 I started thinking about starting the show and thoroughly Wins 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.640 and the excitement that we were onto something, that we 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.600 were building something and growing something that we all cared 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.000 so deeply about. I went flashed back to that moment 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.600 when we went out to California for the Emmys when 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.800 we were nominated. We were not only nominated for the show, 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.600 but for actually hosts, so we had two Emmy nominations 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.120 our first year out. We were so proud and the 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.600 future seemed so bright. So I think I just thought 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:26.960 about all the what ifs. I felt so sad for 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.160 all of those people who have worked so hard on 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:35.000 that show, and I just felt so frustrated that things 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.280 happened the way they happened because they did not happen 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.200 the way we wanted them to happen, or in any 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.240 way that we would have chosen for them to happen. 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:54.680 You talked about I think this morning was the first 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.240 time I talked to you about the what if part. 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.920 We've talked about what happened j A three when the 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.800 news came out, But you think about what if? What 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.320 if we'd have done something different, What if that executive 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.320 had done something different, what if the network had done 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.320 something different? What if? Ever? Like all of the what ifs, 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.200 and when you get through some of those, you like, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.840 what if we were able to continue what you're talking 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.400 about now, we're not. And please, folks, don't don't and 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.760 please call anybody out who puts out a headline that 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.600 misinterprets or tries to mess up our words. Here. We're 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:32.920 not suggesting in the least bit, oh you'll need us, 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:34.720 or look what happens when you don't have us. What 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.760 we're saying here is when we see something like this 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.560 that we love so much that has gotten into some 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:46.440 a trouble of some kind, if you will, we want 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.120 to contribute we want to help, We wish we could 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:50.960 have helped. We wish, well, wow, we didn't live it 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:53.520 in better shape. You do think back to those what 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.080 ifs and what the possibilities could have been if this 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.920 decision was made differently, or that decision made differently. It sucks, man, 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:03.000 it sucks. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:09.800 And I have not been able to talk about not 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.360 being a part of that show with anyone who I 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.800 love personally without getting weepy. That's how much we loved 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.800 that show. So it's been really hard to see what's 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.720 happened to it. And I think especially even watching all 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.040 the news and we've been able to do our morning 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.560 run and feel like we're at least a part of 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.920 the news cycle and feeling like we're helping to get 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.520 out important information because that's all been so confusing this 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:39.680 past year. But I have been yearning. I have wanted 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:42.680 so badly to be able to bring that to our show. 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:43.640 It's been hard. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.920 The best way I can describe it is if you've 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:50.160 been benched as an athlete and you see your team 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.640 and you so badly want to contribute, You so badly 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.800 want to be on the field with them, And that's 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.280 how it's felt, and so I don't want to see 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:04.560 them lose the game. Like it's just it's disheartening, it's sad, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:06.840 and it's frustrating, and I. 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.040 Just it just I'm my stomachs and knots. 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:12.920 I literally and again I was on the phone again. 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.080 I passed the news along to you. But this was 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.240 before I think it all came out publicly. But one 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.679 of our representatives I was on the phone with you 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.920 were out somewhere and I was in the bedroom and 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:24.879 I didn't tell you this. I literally dropped to my 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.800 knees on the side of the bed and brought myself up. 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:31.840 I literally dropped and just said, oh no, oh no, 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.919 and a lot of that does. I mean, anybody that 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.600 loses a job your heart goes out to. But these 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:41.000 are folks that we saw day in day out grind 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.439 not get attention. Right. We were the little engine and 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:47.000 could everybody left us alone? The numbers were good. We 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.520 don't what those two low maintenance anchors over there who 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.840 got good chemistry. Everything's working, and we didn't get a 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.200 lot of love. Quite frankly, we didn't get all of attention. 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.000 Because we didn't need it. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:05.080 He didn't need it. Damn. That's true. That is absolutely true. 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:10.840 The this is how that time. This is only a funny, 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.560 so I'm not saying they completely disregarded, but this is 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:18.119 how it felt. What year was It was twenty twenty 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.439 This was after an Emmy nomination. I believe it was. 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.680 It was definitely after the Emmy nomination. It was twenty 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:24.120 twenty two. 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.440 Okay. So there was a big presentation, right, the big 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.760 presentation where the ABC News president comes out and all 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.520 hands on deck because a town hall. Everybody across the 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.480 network is on zoom all over the country and she's 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:43.359 making presentations bragging about each shows. Kim Godwin, Yes, is 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.480 there a name to this presentation? It was something. It 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:47.080 was kind of a town some town hall. 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.200 We were all the shows were up, everybody was doing well, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.640 so it was a it was a celebratory moment coming 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.760 out of the pandemic and we had all kind of 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.520 righted our ships and kind of adjusted to the new 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.239 ratings and we were doing well. Every show was, so 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.320 she was listing all of the successes. 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.639 We were so excited because we knew we were waiting. 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:08.920 We were waiting. We we would hit two millions. 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.679 I remember we had days where we hit two million viewers, 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:13.560 and we just thought, how is this possible? We were 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.159 so excited an afternoon show with very little resources, but 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:19.879 we were also averaging like over a million and a 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.640 half daily, so we knew we were going to finally 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:28.320 get our kudos. We're going to hear GMA three, you know, 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:30.920 is doing so great. We were all on the edge 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:31.800 of our seats. 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.840 Look and now you'll if I tell you this meeting 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:39.680 went our hour and a half, GMA three was never mentioned. 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:44.359 I mean she mentioned like the weekend overnight edition DAC 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.240 News after Dark, I mean stuff you did not mention. 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.880 We were never mentioned. And now when I tell you 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:55.520 that GMA three staff was devastated, devastated. We already don't 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.159 get enough love and attention, but to see those producers 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.080 and some of those folks who have and busting their butts, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.679 and this was the moment where we knew we were 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:05.880 an asset. We knew all she's gonna give us all 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.160 kinds of We were wondering how big of the presentation 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:10.000 about us was going to be. 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:11.360 Aren't expectations funny? 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:17.719 We had the highest of expectations, and we waited and 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:22.200 we waited, and we waited and Godwin never even mentioned 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:22.919 she had. 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.240 Slides, so you know this was this was thought out. 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.560 This isn't she was just speaking extemporary extemporaneously and forgot 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.639 to mention us. Like in a in an Academy Awards speech, 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.919 you forget to thank your agent or you forget to 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:40.760 thank your wife. No, she had a full, like absolutely 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:47.920 highly produced presentation with slides and videos and pictures. Was 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:50.560 your face even on any of the slides? No, I 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.840 don't think so. No, you didn't. 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:57.240 Oh this Oh this was like this was the upfront 0:20:57.240 --> 0:20:57.600 s babe. 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.240