Speaker 1: Hey, the folks in this episode, did you see about
Speaker 1: the latest newest thefty but for us heartbreaking round of
Speaker 1: layoffs making headlines last weekend? With that, Welcome to this
Speaker 1: episode of Amy and TJ Robes. We've been reporting a
Speaker 1: lot about layoffs all over the all over the country.
Speaker 1: It seems to pass several weeks having to do with
Speaker 1: the federal government. I guess a lot of that, but
Speaker 1: this round of layoffs hit very close to home, was
Speaker 1: very personal. Were talking about our former network.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: I actually got a call from you. I was out
Speaker 3: at a lunch and missed the headline that basically most
Speaker 3: of our staff that we worked with daily, that we loved,
Speaker 3: that we were rooting for from Afar was laid off.
Speaker 3: Two hundred employees fired from ABC News, and a large
Speaker 3: majority of them came from our former show GMA three.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're talking to and again, I guess in media,
Speaker 1: if you work in it long enough, these things just happen.
Speaker 1: They these are I mean, these all the times that
Speaker 1: it's happened, it always seems like, oh, this is the
Speaker 1: one that the media industry is a really changing, This
Speaker 1: is the course correction, and maybe this one will be
Speaker 1: because things are going to streaming in digital. But this one,
Speaker 1: when you hear a network like ABC News is laying
Speaker 1: off two hundred people, which was the initial headline, that's
Speaker 1: a big deal. And I guess we shouldn't necessarily be
Speaker 1: surprised about where the industry is going.
Speaker 2: We're not surprised about where the industry is going.
Speaker 3: We're seeing it everywhere and the ratings are dropping. It's
Speaker 3: not how much you gained year to year, but trying
Speaker 3: to stop the bleeding. So the better off you are
Speaker 3: is the fewer viewers you lost, but that it's a
Speaker 3: game that is not winning, it's losing, and everyone kind
Speaker 3: of knows this. There has to be some major restructuring
Speaker 3: and reevaluating and honestly, how you're going to get younger folks,
Speaker 3: younger people to watch television when that really has become
Speaker 3: something that kids aren't doing. It isn't a habit of theirs.
Speaker 3: They're on their phones, they're their tablets, so they're not
Speaker 3: watching network news. So yes, perhaps this is inevitable. But
Speaker 3: when you see two hundred ABC News employees being fired,
Speaker 3: I think that amounts to about six percent of ABC
Speaker 3: News's work staff. When it's concentrated on one show that
Speaker 3: is even more specific and more detrimental to the folks
Speaker 3: who were working on that show, and it was Yes,
Speaker 3: it was our show.
Speaker 1: So let's if you're not familiar the headlines. I guess
Speaker 1: Wall Street General was among the first to report there's
Speaker 1: two hundred employees at ABC News is going to be
Speaker 1: let go Nightline in twenty twenty. Those are long standing
Speaker 1: staples of that network. They are now being merged into
Speaker 1: one unit. Obviously robes anytimes there's two staffs merged into one,
Speaker 1: people going to lose jobs. Then the five thirty eight website,
Speaker 1: A lot of people might not realize or remember five
Speaker 1: thirty eight started by Nate Silver, which did all the
Speaker 1: great presidential predictions back around President Barack Obama during his elections.
Speaker 1: ABC bought five point thirty eight. Well, now it's letting
Speaker 1: it go. It's being shuttered, so fifteen employees are out
Speaker 1: of a job. So the most jarring I guess changes
Speaker 1: and headlines have to do with Yes, Good Morning America,
Speaker 1: the flagship show where there was GMA and GMA three,
Speaker 1: so three hours of Good Morning America. But folks didn't
Speaker 1: realize that these two operated very separately.
Speaker 3: And that was, to be fully honest, That was always
Speaker 3: a frustrating thing for us because we were juggling between
Speaker 3: being correspondence and filling anchors for the flagship show Good
Speaker 3: Morning America, and then at the same time being co
Speaker 3: anchors for GMA three. And sometimes you would think that
Speaker 3: would all be harmonious and would all make sense that
Speaker 3: the two would go hand in hand, but oftentimes they
Speaker 3: pushed against each other and it ended up feeling like
Speaker 3: we were in a tug of war between GMA and
Speaker 3: GMA three, and there.
Speaker 1: We were called in the middle of that. It feel
Speaker 1: like it was.
Speaker 3: We absolutely were caught between the two so being assigned
Speaker 3: two different things, or GMA wants you to go somewhere,
Speaker 3: but GMA three wants you back anchoring the show, and
Speaker 3: it was a battle sometimes daily, but certainly weekly.
Speaker 1: It felt like, so this is and this is now
Speaker 1: why we are where we are. They have corrected that
Speaker 1: error now if you will, but they say they've done
Speaker 1: it for financial reasons. So yes, GMA and GMA three
Speaker 1: are literally done in the same building in Times Square
Speaker 1: on different floors. GMA uses the GMA three studio plenty,
Speaker 1: but essentially there's just literally one floor up from each other,
Speaker 1: but we all share the same building, all of our
Speaker 1: dressing rooms running next to all.
Speaker 3: It was a shared space, and even the floor directors
Speaker 3: and all the folks who were commanding the cameras and
Speaker 3: all of those folks all were the same. So it
Speaker 3: was basically the behind the scenes staff for Good Morning
Speaker 3: America just went upstairs. We did a lot of times
Speaker 3: in the eight o'clock hour anyway for GMA, and we
Speaker 3: just kind of shifted anchors.
Speaker 1: So the difference, though, being is that GMA is crazy.
Speaker 1: We this drove us crazy. We're going to get into that.
Speaker 1: But GMA and GMA three have two totally different production
Speaker 1: team as far as the producers go in the executive
Speaker 1: producer are two totally separate units. So there's not a
Speaker 1: synergy that you would think that these two shows have.
Speaker 1: They're completely produced separately from each other. We didn't even
Speaker 1: the producing teams don't necessarily even talk to each other
Speaker 1: and coordinate. They're two separate, totally separate shore.
Speaker 3: Sometimes we were doing the coordinating, going back and forth
Speaker 3: between the executive producers, trying to figure out where we
Speaker 3: were supposed to be, like physically.
Speaker 2: On a story or on an assignment.
Speaker 3: So that was always a little confusing because GMA three
Speaker 3: was under the umbrella of ABC News Live, the digital
Speaker 3: online version of ABC News, so it truly was a
Speaker 3: completely different status.
Speaker 1: And we're gonna explain that to in a second. It
Speaker 1: took us the longest to figure out why exactly that
Speaker 1: was done. But what we're saying here and what we're
Speaker 1: setting up was we're explaining why the GMA three staff
Speaker 1: is now gone because it was a separate staff. So
Speaker 1: what they've now done is taken GMA three and put
Speaker 1: it completely under the control of GMA and GMA's executive
Speaker 1: producer Simone Swink, so now it's all one unit. And
Speaker 1: to do that, you had to get rid of the
Speaker 1: entire staff of GMA three. That entire staff are folks,
Speaker 1: robes who were with you from the very beginning, with me,
Speaker 1: from the very beginning when we started of that show,
Speaker 1: and they're all gone now, and we both got that
Speaker 1: news last week. And I will ask you now, you
Speaker 1: know before I ask you that this is important to
Speaker 1: say because people will understand your reaction to it, but
Speaker 1: you have to to fully understand. You have to understand
Speaker 1: how the show started. Now this hour on the network
Speaker 1: is around one o'clock GMA three. What was it called
Speaker 1: it first GMI Demic before when stray and uh oh.
Speaker 3: It was it was straight Hand, Sarah and Kekeyankey. First
Speaker 3: it was straight Hand and Sarah. Then it became straighthand
Speaker 3: Sarah and kekeyp And then when the pandemicemic hit, it
Speaker 3: was very obvious pretty quickly that that show was not
Speaker 3: going to be able to continue in the situation this
Speaker 3: world was in. And it truly was an opportunity to
Speaker 3: create a show that served the public with the information
Speaker 3: that we so desperately needed because things were constantly changing
Speaker 3: and evolving. We were scared for our lives, and I
Speaker 3: felt like, honestly, for the first time in my journalistic career,
Speaker 3: I was doing something worthy of public attention and public safety,
Speaker 3: and it was I felt so fulfilled starting that show,
Speaker 3: just knowing that we were actually giving people potentially life
Speaker 3: saving information. So that's what the show became, or at
Speaker 3: least initially began, as it grew from a real organic need.
Speaker 1: But the show was necessary without Now what was the
Speaker 1: name it was a pandemic year, No, it was just
Speaker 1: called pandemic. What you need to know? Yes, right. That
Speaker 1: started in March, right of twenty twenty or is it April.
Speaker 2: It was March of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: I mean when the pandemic hit.
Speaker 3: I got a we got a phone call to head
Speaker 3: up to some executive's office.
Speaker 2: I had no idea what it was in reference to.
Speaker 3: In fact, I thought they were going to ask me
Speaker 3: to stick around and do some busy work like manning cameras,
Speaker 3: unless in case news broke. I had no idea that
Speaker 3: they were going to ask me to take over that
Speaker 3: one o'clock hour from Strayhance, Sarah and Kiki for a
Speaker 3: temporary period of time to get us through the pandemic.
Speaker 3: So I was blindsided by the call and the call
Speaker 3: to action. But obviously I was very quick to say,
Speaker 3: of course I'll do it, of course I'll step in.
Speaker 1: So this is how that hour started. So you go back, folks,
Speaker 1: to March of twenty twenty. It started organically. Robock was
Speaker 1: on set right with doctor Ashton and you will every
Speaker 1: single day, and people were desperate for information. That is
Speaker 1: one of the most necessary shows I've ever been I've
Speaker 1: ever seen in television news because it was just important
Speaker 1: and you were giving information people needed. We start to
Speaker 1: get the pandemic. We're several months into it and maybe
Speaker 1: starting to get a handle on it. The show begins
Speaker 1: to evolve and I come on board in the fall
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty as GMA three. What you need to.
Speaker 3: Know, Well, let me actually back up a little bit
Speaker 3: to talk about the evolution as I saw it from
Speaker 3: my perspective. So we were doing the show and I'm
Speaker 3: not even going to credit our great ratings, and they
Speaker 3: were unexpectedly even better than anyone could have imagined, because
Speaker 3: of course there was a need. It wasn't that I
Speaker 3: would never take credit that we were doing anything special,
Speaker 3: But all of a sudden, ABC executives saw something finally
Speaker 3: succeed in that hour. They had been struggling to get
Speaker 3: something to succeed in that It's a tough time of day.
Speaker 3: Who's home, Who's watching. Well, now you've got the pandemic,
Speaker 3: everyone's home, everyone's watching. So we ended up realizing, hey,
Speaker 3: we might have some formula that we can build on
Speaker 3: to evolve out of the pandemic. We need to evolve
Speaker 3: into news, we need to evolve into education, we need
Speaker 3: to evolve into other stories beyond the pandemic.
Speaker 1: So we yes, in the fall of twenty twenty. I
Speaker 1: do eventually come on board and the show takes off.
Speaker 1: And in the first two years we're together, we get
Speaker 1: Immy nominations, so Best Daytime Show, Informative Talk, we get
Speaker 1: Emmy nominations for hosts. I should say we didn't win.
Speaker 1: I should say that we did not win. What's the
Speaker 1: line were supposed to say?
Speaker 3: It was always an honor to be nominated, which we
Speaker 3: did feel.
Speaker 2: And we're very I mean seriously, the first you were together.
Speaker 3: We we knew we had something. We knew I mean, look,
Speaker 3: it was great with Jen and me. That was phenomenal.
Speaker 3: We felt really good about that, but clearly or something missing,
Speaker 3: mostly some male energy, let's be honest.
Speaker 2: And you came.
Speaker 3: In and brought so much life to that show that
Speaker 3: was necessary. I mean I could go on and on
Speaker 3: about your talent and what you bring. And I was
Speaker 3: so excited when I got that phone call that said, Hey,
Speaker 3: how do you feel about TJ joining you on GMA three?
Speaker 3: And I couldn't have been more excited because you were
Speaker 3: the perfect person, the perfect partner in every way for
Speaker 3: a show like that.
Speaker 1: With that text, Now, right, this wasn't just something we
Speaker 1: went after and begged and screamed and yelled for It's
Speaker 1: something that actually happened so organically the show did. Us
Speaker 1: being a part of it did, And no, we didn't
Speaker 1: want to leave. Let's be clear here. Yes we did
Speaker 1: not want to leave that show, and we have talked
Speaker 1: about it plenty of times. For two people who've been
Speaker 1: in the industry twenty five plus years. At that point,
Speaker 1: this was the dream job. We get to do news,
Speaker 1: a little entertainment, a little inspiration. It was the perfect
Speaker 1: show and you're getting to do it at the time
Speaker 1: with my best friend. This was a show we did
Speaker 1: not want to leave.
Speaker 3: I could have done that show for the next twenty
Speaker 3: years and Ben the luckiest person on the planet.
Speaker 1: So folks with that anytime. There were headlines over the
Speaker 1: past two plus years since we left that were not
Speaker 1: I guess pleasant or whatever for the show, talking about
Speaker 1: its rainings, what's going on with it? People? We got
Speaker 1: used to get calls from tabloid folks and folks wanted
Speaker 1: to react to things as if we're excited that something's
Speaker 1: not going well that we always we have from the
Speaker 1: jump been rooting for GMA three. I would have loved
Speaker 1: Robes I know you would have in ten, fifteen, twenty
Speaker 1: years see that show still thrive and go wow. I
Speaker 1: was there and I helped start that thing.
Speaker 2: I was a part of it absolutely.
Speaker 3: And I will say, look, we have said this publicly too,
Speaker 3: but I'll reiterate I have not and TJ has not
Speaker 3: watched that show once since we left, mostly because it
Speaker 3: was too painful too. It wasn't because we were saying, ah,
Speaker 3: I forget them, no it we loved it so much.
Speaker 3: We were so passionate about it that I actually couldn't
Speaker 3: stomach to watch it because it was too hard, because
Speaker 3: it would have been too painful for me to have watched.
Speaker 1: And to say that, we're saying, folks, not even a
Speaker 1: solitary second of that show have we seen since we
Speaker 1: left the network. Now I've passed the television and seeing
Speaker 1: GMA on an airport or at a bar and at
Speaker 1: least look up at the TV. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: And but to your point, that is why it's not
Speaker 1: a bitterness. It's a sadness about what could have been
Speaker 1: and something we were proud of it. We were always
Speaker 1: rooting from a distance for that show. So to hear
Speaker 1: now and again the show is going to continue, but
Speaker 1: everybody associated with it has been let go. That show
Speaker 1: doesn't exist the way we saw it, the way we
Speaker 1: started it, the way we left it. So what was
Speaker 1: your reaction? Your first reaction to the news is what
Speaker 1: I wanted to get to and wanted to get the
Speaker 1: context first. But given all that, and folks can understand
Speaker 1: now where we're coming from, to hear that that whole staff,
Speaker 1: that everybody's gone, what did you think? I felt.
Speaker 2: I'm going to try not to get emotional.
Speaker 1: I felt so sad.
Speaker 3: I started thinking about starting the show and thoroughly Wins
Speaker 3: and the excitement that we were onto something, that we
Speaker 3: were building something and growing something that we all cared
Speaker 3: so deeply about. I went flashed back to that moment
Speaker 3: when we went out to California for the Emmys when
Speaker 3: we were nominated. We were not only nominated for the show,
Speaker 3: but for actually hosts, so we had two Emmy nominations
Speaker 3: our first year out. We were so proud and the
Speaker 3: future seemed so bright. So I think I just thought
Speaker 3: about all the what ifs. I felt so sad for
Speaker 3: all of those people who have worked so hard on
Speaker 3: that show, and I just felt so frustrated that things
Speaker 3: happened the way they happened because they did not happen
Speaker 3: the way we wanted them to happen, or in any
Speaker 3: way that we would have chosen for them to happen.
Speaker 1: You talked about I think this morning was the first
Speaker 1: time I talked to you about the what if part.
Speaker 1: We've talked about what happened j A three when the
Speaker 1: news came out, But you think about what if? What
Speaker 1: if we'd have done something different, What if that executive
Speaker 1: had done something different, what if the network had done
Speaker 1: something different? What if? Ever? Like all of the what ifs,
Speaker 1: and when you get through some of those, you like,
Speaker 1: what if we were able to continue what you're talking
Speaker 1: about now, we're not. And please, folks, don't don't and
Speaker 1: please call anybody out who puts out a headline that
Speaker 1: misinterprets or tries to mess up our words. Here. We're
Speaker 1: not suggesting in the least bit, oh you'll need us,
Speaker 1: or look what happens when you don't have us. What
Speaker 1: we're saying here is when we see something like this
Speaker 1: that we love so much that has gotten into some
Speaker 1: a trouble of some kind, if you will, we want
Speaker 1: to contribute we want to help, We wish we could
Speaker 1: have helped. We wish, well, wow, we didn't live it
Speaker 1: in better shape. You do think back to those what
Speaker 1: ifs and what the possibilities could have been if this
Speaker 1: decision was made differently, or that decision made differently. It sucks, man,
Speaker 1: it sucks.
Speaker 3: And I have not been able to talk about not
Speaker 3: being a part of that show with anyone who I
Speaker 3: love personally without getting weepy. That's how much we loved
Speaker 3: that show. So it's been really hard to see what's
Speaker 3: happened to it. And I think especially even watching all
Speaker 3: the news and we've been able to do our morning
Speaker 3: run and feel like we're at least a part of
Speaker 3: the news cycle and feeling like we're helping to get
Speaker 3: out important information because that's all been so confusing this
Speaker 3: past year. But I have been yearning. I have wanted
Speaker 3: so badly to be able to bring that to our show.
Speaker 2: It's been hard.
Speaker 3: The best way I can describe it is if you've
Speaker 3: been benched as an athlete and you see your team
Speaker 3: and you so badly want to contribute, You so badly
Speaker 3: want to be on the field with them, And that's
Speaker 3: how it's felt, and so I don't want to see
Speaker 3: them lose the game. Like it's just it's disheartening, it's sad,
Speaker 3: and it's frustrating, and I.
Speaker 2: Just it just I'm my stomachs and knots.
Speaker 1: I literally and again I was on the phone again.
Speaker 1: I passed the news along to you. But this was
Speaker 1: before I think it all came out publicly. But one
Speaker 1: of our representatives I was on the phone with you
Speaker 1: were out somewhere and I was in the bedroom and
Speaker 1: I didn't tell you this. I literally dropped to my
Speaker 1: knees on the side of the bed and brought myself up.
Speaker 1: I literally dropped and just said, oh no, oh no,
Speaker 1: and a lot of that does. I mean, anybody that
Speaker 1: loses a job your heart goes out to. But these
Speaker 1: are folks that we saw day in day out grind
Speaker 1: not get attention. Right. We were the little engine and
Speaker 1: could everybody left us alone? The numbers were good. We
Speaker 1: don't what those two low maintenance anchors over there who
Speaker 1: got good chemistry. Everything's working, and we didn't get a
Speaker 1: lot of love. Quite frankly, we didn't get all of attention.
Speaker 2: Because we didn't need it.
Speaker 1: He didn't need it. Damn. That's true. That is absolutely true.
Speaker 1: The this is how that time. This is only a funny,
Speaker 1: so I'm not saying they completely disregarded, but this is
Speaker 1: how it felt. What year was It was twenty twenty
Speaker 1: This was after an Emmy nomination. I believe it was.
Speaker 3: It was definitely after the Emmy nomination. It was twenty
Speaker 3: twenty two.
Speaker 1: Okay. So there was a big presentation, right, the big
Speaker 1: presentation where the ABC News president comes out and all
Speaker 1: hands on deck because a town hall. Everybody across the
Speaker 1: network is on zoom all over the country and she's
Speaker 1: making presentations bragging about each shows. Kim Godwin, Yes, is
Speaker 1: there a name to this presentation? It was something. It
Speaker 1: was kind of a town some town hall.
Speaker 3: We were all the shows were up, everybody was doing well,
Speaker 3: so it was a it was a celebratory moment coming
Speaker 3: out of the pandemic and we had all kind of
Speaker 3: righted our ships and kind of adjusted to the new
Speaker 3: ratings and we were doing well. Every show was, so
Speaker 3: she was listing all of the successes.
Speaker 1: We were so excited because we knew we were waiting.
Speaker 1: We were waiting. We we would hit two millions.
Speaker 3: I remember we had days where we hit two million viewers,
Speaker 3: and we just thought, how is this possible? We were
Speaker 3: so excited an afternoon show with very little resources, but
Speaker 3: we were also averaging like over a million and a
Speaker 3: half daily, so we knew we were going to finally
Speaker 3: get our kudos. We're going to hear GMA three, you know,
Speaker 3: is doing so great. We were all on the edge
Speaker 3: of our seats.
Speaker 1: Look and now you'll if I tell you this meeting
Speaker 1: went our hour and a half, GMA three was never mentioned.
Speaker 1: I mean she mentioned like the weekend overnight edition DAC
Speaker 1: News after Dark, I mean stuff you did not mention.
Speaker 1: We were never mentioned. And now when I tell you
Speaker 1: that GMA three staff was devastated, devastated. We already don't
Speaker 1: get enough love and attention, but to see those producers
Speaker 1: and some of those folks who have and busting their butts,
Speaker 1: and this was the moment where we knew we were
Speaker 1: an asset. We knew all she's gonna give us all
Speaker 1: kinds of We were wondering how big of the presentation
Speaker 1: about us was going to be.
Speaker 2: Aren't expectations funny?
Speaker 3: We had the highest of expectations, and we waited and
Speaker 3: we waited, and we waited and Godwin never even mentioned
Speaker 3: she had.
Speaker 2: Slides, so you know this was this was thought out.
Speaker 3: This isn't she was just speaking extemporary extemporaneously and forgot
Speaker 3: to mention us. Like in a in an Academy Awards speech,
Speaker 3: you forget to thank your agent or you forget to
Speaker 3: thank your wife. No, she had a full, like absolutely
Speaker 3: highly produced presentation with slides and videos and pictures. Was
Speaker 3: your face even on any of the slides? No, I
Speaker 3: don't think so. No, you didn't.
Speaker 2: Oh this Oh this was like this was the upfront
Speaker 2: s babe.
Speaker 1: Wasn't this wasn't No, no, no, it wasn't.
Speaker 2: Wait, it was, but it was around that time, but
Speaker 2: it was.
Speaker 1: It was an all hands on deck meeting. It is.
Speaker 1: I haven't thought about it again to this moment, really,
Speaker 1: but it was hilarious. You and I have been around
Speaker 1: enough to wear you know. It wasn't a punch in
Speaker 1: the gut tell us, I'm yes, sought for a twenty
Speaker 1: five year old producer who's getting no love on a
Speaker 1: show that's doing well. This was the one opportunity. They
Speaker 1: were devastated by this. Yes, they were really hurt by this,
Speaker 1: but to make up for it, don't worry news trickled
Speaker 1: back up to Kim that I think you left out
Speaker 1: a major show. She didn't know she did.
Speaker 3: She didn't know she did. But to make up for it,
Speaker 3: we're thinking, she calls a meeting with the entire GMA
Speaker 3: three staff. We collect there on sixty sixth Street, all
Speaker 3: of us in this big room, waiting to hear what
Speaker 3: she's going to do, what she's going to say, how
Speaker 3: she's going to make this right.
Speaker 1: She brought cookies.
Speaker 2: She brought cookies.
Speaker 1: They were good.
Speaker 2: I didn't have one.
Speaker 1: I didn't either.
Speaker 2: I don't think anyone did.
Speaker 1: I was just assuming, what do you What do you say? Mate?
Speaker 1: It was an honor? How do you do that? Start
Speaker 1: naming shows at ABC News. You're going to say Nightline,
Speaker 1: you gonna say twenty twenty, You're going to say evening News,
Speaker 1: What is it? World newsnight? You're going to say GMA
Speaker 1: does not How Yeah, okay, that was amazing. It was
Speaker 1: funny at the time. But what I'm saying, this is
Speaker 1: the show that is used to not getting a lot
Speaker 1: of love and a lot of resources necessarily, But it
Speaker 1: was a show that's used to doing well without needing
Speaker 1: a lot of that, and we just had something that
Speaker 1: was clicking in was working, and look, it had to
Speaker 1: make some changes and whatever the changes were, it got
Speaker 1: them to this point. And it's just it it's brutal
Speaker 1: to think that the whole show and again you and
Speaker 1: I'm not sure swhen are you please tell me? Are
Speaker 1: they do they have the same anchors now? Is there
Speaker 1: a rotating crop of anchors?
Speaker 2: I've heard bearying.
Speaker 3: I don't know that anyone knows what it's going to
Speaker 3: look like going forward, so I couldn't speak to whether
Speaker 3: or not it's going to stay with the anchors they
Speaker 3: have up there now, but it was told to us
Speaker 3: that perhaps they'll be rotating anchors. It feels, probably from
Speaker 3: the folks who I've heard from who still work there,
Speaker 3: very chaotic and there's a lot of fear. You know.
Speaker 3: They don't know what's going to happen next, They don't
Speaker 3: know what new changes may take place, if anyone else's
Speaker 3: jobs are on the line. There's just a lot of fear,
Speaker 3: as there are in so many places around this country
Speaker 3: right now, with layoffs being the headline.
Speaker 2: But we know this is so.
Speaker 3: Deeply personal to us, and anytime you've got that kind
Speaker 3: of fear and you're operating out of fear instead of support.
Speaker 3: It changes the whole energy of the newsroom, of the
Speaker 3: halls of GMA. I'm sure it's a very different feel.
Speaker 1: How do they get it back? Like I really wonder,
Speaker 1: And obviously we know that the building, Well, where is
Speaker 1: the where's the rallying cry? And who is that rallying
Speaker 1: cry going to come from? There's a new ABC News president,
Speaker 1: fairly new, right, Ell? Mean yeah, Ellen, to tell me,
Speaker 1: i'n't not a full year.
Speaker 3: In No, but he's been at ABC fore long time, forever,
Speaker 3: and he was the EP of World News tonight, So yes,
Speaker 3: he's got a lot.
Speaker 1: Of But speak, where does it come from? Where is
Speaker 1: the leadership come from? Where is who is in that
Speaker 1: building that everybody can rally around? Let's just speak the
Speaker 1: GMA for a second. Who is everybody can give that
Speaker 1: rah rah speech? I don't I really don't know. And
Speaker 1: I'm concerned moving forward, what's the next thing and the
Speaker 1: next thing and the next thing. Because this is and
Speaker 1: we talk to them all the time. Obviously we know
Speaker 1: people in this building. There is not a pleasant word
Speaker 1: we've heard. It's it's not even it's almost so disheartening
Speaker 1: and discouraging to hear what's happening in the.
Speaker 3: Building to say, oh, you guys are lucky you left
Speaker 3: when you did dot dot that kind of a thing.
Speaker 3: And I was like, no, that's not that's not a
Speaker 3: fair statement at all, because I don't there's nothing about
Speaker 3: me that feels lucky in any of this, not even
Speaker 3: in the least. And we were talking this morning about just,
Speaker 3: you know, being out of it, being on sidelines watching
Speaker 3: this all unravel, and how we kind of even feel
Speaker 3: differently now than maybe even we did before.
Speaker 1: God, I hate again, I hate to see, but I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people might not realize about GMA
Speaker 1: three the way it does work. It tapes at nine
Speaker 1: to thirty in the morning. Now most people around the
Speaker 1: country see it at lunchtime, right occur U one, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it tapes at nine thirty and we have to
Speaker 1: be done taping by eleven. And there was a reason
Speaker 1: for that, which also ties into this show. It tied
Speaker 1: into possibly what's happening to it now. It was explained
Speaker 1: to us it was done that way because they wanted
Speaker 1: to save money. The crew that's there, that's working in studio,
Speaker 1: the stage hands and all these they work for GMA,
Speaker 1: but then they're done working by eleven am, So we
Speaker 1: had to tape GMA three and be done by eleven
Speaker 1: am so we could share those guys and they didn't
Speaker 1: have to pay anybody extra.
Speaker 3: Well, they always had to stay that late, even before
Speaker 3: GMA three happened, because you'll know, we tape this on
Speaker 3: the East Coast in New York City, but there are
Speaker 3: several time zones, so any news that breaks after GMA
Speaker 3: on the East Coast gets off the air, there has
Speaker 3: to be a staff there to break in for any
Speaker 3: major event, and certainly that's happened plenty of times over
Speaker 3: the years, so it was actually a built in safety
Speaker 3: net for us to be there for GMA three between
Speaker 3: nine thirty and eleven as well.
Speaker 2: How many times did one of.
Speaker 3: Us get pulled off the set upstairs to go downstairs
Speaker 3: to update Good Morning America with some breaking news or
Speaker 3: some new information or a different number that was released.
Speaker 3: So it was in that sense no real financial skin
Speaker 3: off their back because all the same people that had
Speaker 3: to be there were there, and now instead of just
Speaker 3: perhaps taking a break and chillin', they were manning cameras
Speaker 3: and directing us.
Speaker 1: So we are talented so we actually haven't had a
Speaker 1: built in cost if you will is it wasn't necessarily
Speaker 1: costing the network to have now the two of us
Speaker 1: anchor the show, no matter what our salaries were, because
Speaker 1: we were just kind of tied into another salary structure
Speaker 1: or whatever. Fine, but you did have a whole staff there,
Speaker 1: and that's the money that they are saving this And
Speaker 1: we talked about this plenty, and folks don't realize GMA
Speaker 1: and GMA three there was a rift between these shows
Speaker 1: that we got caught up in the middle of. And
Speaker 1: this has been a part of so much of the
Speaker 1: story since we've left, and people talk about chemistry and
Speaker 1: fill ins and and continuity and familiar faces and talent
Speaker 1: and all these things. We were under GMA three and
Speaker 1: had one executive producer. We had GMA with its executive producer,
Speaker 1: So anytime GMA wanted something from us, they had to
Speaker 1: go ask permission from GMA three, not nine wink wink.
Speaker 1: We don't necessarily have to ask permission, but we will
Speaker 1: just to play nice. And there was a struggle robes
Speaker 1: we got caught in the middle of in being pulled
Speaker 1: between these two shows constantly.
Speaker 3: I remember one of the more frustrating ones was when
Speaker 3: we were discussing whether or not you could come too
Speaker 3: to London to cover the Queen's Jubilee, and there was
Speaker 3: a big concern that they wanted you to stay back
Speaker 3: to anchor GMA three, And we just thought, if we
Speaker 3: already have the structure set up, why shouldn't we just
Speaker 3: then take both of us and anchor the show from London.
Speaker 3: But the amount of work and negotiating and back and
Speaker 3: forth that had to happen for that two happened was
Speaker 3: extraordinary and unnecessary and wouldn't be an issue now, I guess,
Speaker 3: given this new structure. But when you had competing interest,
Speaker 3: in competing shows, and competing egos and competing budgets, it
Speaker 3: just it ended up being really difficult a lot of times.
Speaker 1: This is the ultimate compliment to the two of us
Speaker 1: is that we were asked we were the automatic fill
Speaker 1: ins on Good Morning America. We of course had GMA
Speaker 1: three that we were anchoring. How many they talk about,
Speaker 1: Look the eel can look up that we are not
Speaker 1: knocking the show. The numbers are out there, the ratings
Speaker 1: are out there. Today is I guess number one now
Speaker 1: over Good Morning America consistently is now the ratings leader
Speaker 1: in the morning. People so often talk about chemistry and
Speaker 1: who's up there on set. You and I were called
Speaker 1: on We've had vacations canceled before because they needed us
Speaker 1: to get back and get on set to fill in.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't. It was almost like they wouldn't let anybody
Speaker 1: else fill in on that show. That's the point we
Speaker 1: had gotten to with Good Morning America. So when the
Speaker 1: GMA three thing comes around and yes, we got to
Speaker 1: let go, there was a lot of talk about, well,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, that's not the point is GMA three,
Speaker 1: you're actually getting rid of the two people who are
Speaker 1: actually you're de facto of anchors of the show as well.
Speaker 3: Well. I would even say, basically, in addition to filling
Speaker 3: in on the show in an anchor seat, if anything
Speaker 3: major happened in the world in any form or fashion,
Speaker 3: we're hitting the road and we're there for Good Morning
Speaker 3: America and you know, look the other host everyone's got
Speaker 3: busy schedules. I would say we were both the de
Speaker 3: facto get the big interview, travel to go and get
Speaker 3: it anywhere people. So we filled multiple roles on both shows,
Speaker 3: and it ended up sometimes It was a tug of
Speaker 3: war that I definitely remember feeling pulled in so many
Speaker 3: different directions and no one could decide who. I mean. Ultimately,
Speaker 3: GMA wins, but it ended up being so much harder
Speaker 3: than it seemed like it had to be.
Speaker 1: And now what we're seeing here with the show there
Speaker 1: not because of the reasons we want it. We advocated
Speaker 1: for GMA and JA three to be under one umbrella.
Speaker 3: We had conversations with Simone's swink saying, Simone, why can't
Speaker 3: Good Morning America just take over GMA three and all
Speaker 3: of these problems go away? And she said, trust me,
Speaker 3: I know. So we had these conversations two and a
Speaker 3: half years ago and knew with how things were happening
Speaker 3: that it would be better for everybody.
Speaker 1: And again, let's be clear, we weren't advocating for our
Speaker 1: staff to go on. No, no, we were only advocating
Speaker 1: for us to be under that same GMA controlled an
Speaker 1: umbrella to where we would have one person to be
Speaker 1: able to say, yes, I'm sending this anchor here, I
Speaker 1: want this anchor here, I want this person here instead
Speaker 1: of us. Anytime yes, GMA wanted us, they had to
Speaker 1: go through GMA three. Again not not wink wink, but
Speaker 1: it just caused so much confusion and strife that was unnecessary.
Speaker 1: That problem is being solved, but it's being forced. This
Speaker 1: is at the.
Speaker 2: Expense of the expense so much.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's and it's and it's Look, as you mentioned,
Speaker 3: we're not we're not breaking any news here. Anyone can
Speaker 3: look up the ratings. But it's just sad to see
Speaker 3: what's happened so that it had to be a financial decision,
Speaker 3: not a not a strategic decision, but it was a
Speaker 3: financial reaction. And so there's a difference when you make
Speaker 3: the decision because it's going to be better versus it's
Speaker 3: because this is what we have to do.
Speaker 1: And again I don't know the show well enough now
Speaker 1: to know what has happened. Look, television has changed, right,
Speaker 1: they might have different competition now, new competition that was
Speaker 1: a reason why the numbers went down or I don't
Speaker 1: know what it may be, but it just I folks
Speaker 1: looked at it, and I think so much emphasis and
Speaker 1: so much has been put on our relationship and are
Speaker 1: the reason we were together in the first place, and
Speaker 1: that show came together and reason it may have worked
Speaker 1: so well. This was and I will even give ABC credit.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you and I would be in
Speaker 1: a relationship today if it wasn't for ABC putting us together. Yes,
Speaker 1: for years, Yes, on that show, on that show on
Speaker 1: that network. I really do believe that, babe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I remember the first time being out
Speaker 3: on assignment with you. Was it twenty sixteen for President
Speaker 3: Trump's first inauguration on the Mall? We had worked adjacently
Speaker 3: with each other, and on the set you would come
Speaker 3: in and I was the news anchor, and you'd come
Speaker 3: in and do the segment seven and we would and
Speaker 3: I always knew.
Speaker 2: I was like, Wow, that guy is so good.
Speaker 3: I love the chemistry and he brings it even when
Speaker 3: he doesn't want to, even when it's the sappiest, most
Speaker 3: ridiculous puppy story, you still sold it. And I saw
Speaker 3: that in you, and we we jibbed from the moment.
Speaker 3: So when we got to go, we didn't do a
Speaker 3: lot together, but we were there on the mall together
Speaker 3: covering President Trump, and that was where I think initial
Speaker 3: spark went off, and we got another assignment pretty quickly afterwards.
Speaker 1: What was the one right after that Super Bowl that
Speaker 1: was in Houston, yes, got that one in Houston. Okay,
Speaker 1: that was fun. I can remember what you were wearing,
Speaker 1: motorcycle jackets and jeans.
Speaker 2: That's hilarious.
Speaker 1: I remember that.
Speaker 2: I don't know well, because I don't even know.
Speaker 3: I'd have to go look at the picture. But I
Speaker 3: do have a picture because Jesse Palmer was there. It
Speaker 3: was you, me Jesse Palmer, and that was I just thought, Wow,
Speaker 3: these are two of my favorite guys to work with,
Speaker 3: and what a special So that was that for me
Speaker 3: was when I just knew that I wanted to figure
Speaker 3: out how to work with you. We started talking about
Speaker 3: doing a podcast together.
Speaker 1: Back then we wanted to do an ABC News podcast
Speaker 1: did together because.
Speaker 3: We thought we had this plan because we had so
Speaker 3: much fun working together and so much respect for each
Speaker 3: other working together, we said, you know what, let's put
Speaker 3: a podcast together. It's funny how the order ended up
Speaker 3: being the opposite, and then the ABC News executives will
Speaker 3: hear it and they'll actually organically witness our yes, our chemistry,
Speaker 3: and then they'll give us a show together. We actually
Speaker 3: thought that it just all happened in reverse.
Speaker 1: Now we have a podcast, so so now we go, okay,
Speaker 1: keep moving that forward. To that was twenty sixteen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we Yeah, look, I used to come on set, Yes,
Speaker 1: like you said, I didn't notice it, but you said
Speaker 1: they would stick me down by you. Yep, anytime when
Speaker 1: I was on set. But then you move forward to
Speaker 1: what was the next one we the next opportunity we
Speaker 1: had on together.
Speaker 3: Well, we started filling in together on the set of
Speaker 3: Good Morning America. You would fill in for Michael Strahan
Speaker 3: and I would fill in for Robin and do George.
Speaker 1: Much before twenty twenty. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I actually it's all a blurb before twenty twenty, honestly,
Speaker 3: but I know it was happening, And the moments it happened,
Speaker 3: we would actually have to say to each other, Okay,
Speaker 3: let's not have too much fun because it's gonna piss
Speaker 3: off George, or it's gonna piss off the control room
Speaker 3: because they're gonna hear like you too.
Speaker 1: Stop.
Speaker 2: So we were on our best behavior, but it was
Speaker 2: almost as if we were giddy getting to work together.
Speaker 1: That's a true story. And what does that say about us?
Speaker 1: That we were having such a good time that we
Speaker 1: didn't want to upset everybody else?
Speaker 2: Yes, that I felt like that, Yeah, because.
Speaker 1: There's there there. It can be tense and it can
Speaker 1: be left tight, and it can't be that kind that
Speaker 1: we were. So we didn't want to spread joy. We
Speaker 1: kept it in afraid of what repercussion.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we didn't want to be those annoying people who
Speaker 3: were enjoying their anyway.
Speaker 1: Okay, so we're filling in together. But once you were
Speaker 1: doing jim A three or the Pandemic show, you finally
Speaker 1: took a vacation in June of twenty twenty. Yes, right,
Speaker 1: and so this is where it all came about. I
Speaker 1: ended up filling in for you for nine days. I
Speaker 1: always remember it was nine days at the end of June,
Speaker 1: and after that, affiliates everybody started buzzing about, Oh, those
Speaker 1: two are going to be together now. It wasn't so
Speaker 1: I didn't have an agent at the time. There was
Speaker 1: nobody advocating for me. There was nobody saying, hey, what
Speaker 1: about this. Hey, but they weren't even saying they were
Speaker 1: looking for We're also.
Speaker 3: In the middle of a pandemic, so it was kind
Speaker 3: of a strange time. I just remember I came back
Speaker 3: from that. It was a road trip because we weren't
Speaker 3: flying anywhere obviously, and I think within you would know
Speaker 3: the day exactly. But I got a call from our
Speaker 3: executive producer, Kat mackenzie and said, we have an idea.
Speaker 3: How would you if we brought on a co anchor?
Speaker 3: And I said, okay, but who?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Who?
Speaker 3: And she said TJ Holmes and I remember just thinking
Speaker 3: this is so crazy. We spent years trying to figure
Speaker 3: out how to convince the executives that we would be
Speaker 3: good together, and now when I least expected it, when
Speaker 3: I didn't even we weren't even advocating for it, all
Speaker 3: of a sudden, now they're saying, hey, why don't you
Speaker 3: two anchor together? And I laughed, I said, that is
Speaker 3: a hard yes from me. And I always was shocked
Speaker 3: by the next phone call I got, which was from you,
Speaker 3: and you told me I don't know if I should
Speaker 3: do that, And I just thought.
Speaker 2: Are you crazy?
Speaker 1: Why would you even?
Speaker 2: And you know what, it was a sweet reason why
Speaker 2: you hesitated.
Speaker 1: Because to your point in the thing that had you
Speaker 1: in tears here earlier, it was your baby, right, this
Speaker 1: is something you started, and I didn't want to come
Speaker 1: in after the fact and somebody's on our territory. This
Speaker 1: is our thing that was my first hesitation, my first
Speaker 1: reaction to it. And yes, we talked through it and
Speaker 1: everything was fine eventually, but that was my first reaction.
Speaker 1: And so we're to talk this out. We haven't talked
Speaker 1: about GMA three this much in forever, so to be
Speaker 1: talking it out now, it's getting sadder. Actually, as we're
Speaker 1: talking about it, it was that this show has meant
Speaker 1: everything in our lives. By that, I mean it's gotten
Speaker 1: me to the person I'm spending the rest of my
Speaker 1: life with. It got me to this incredible, awful episode
Speaker 1: in my life that I don't wish upon anybody, but
Speaker 1: it will absolutely be a big part of my story,
Speaker 1: and it was actually the greatest achievement of my professional career.
Speaker 1: All of those things are true, you know.
Speaker 3: It's Yes, the biggest prize that came out of that
Speaker 3: show was our relationship, because we knew we liked each other,
Speaker 3: but we fell.
Speaker 2: In love.
Speaker 3: On that show like we did, and so that is
Speaker 3: also a huge reason why it will always forever be
Speaker 3: a big part of me and us. I will also
Speaker 3: tell you I don't know that I've ever shared this,
Speaker 3: but it restored my faith in journalism because if you'll
Speaker 3: recall the November before I got caught on a hot
Speaker 3: mic frustrated about the fact that I could not report
Speaker 3: on Jeffrey Epstein and had been for years unable to
Speaker 3: get my story out, and I was almost certain my
Speaker 3: career at ABC News was going to be over. At
Speaker 3: that point, I got pulled off the air for a
Speaker 3: month without them acknowledging it. I stopped filling in. You
Speaker 3: didn't see me very much. I was begging to get
Speaker 3: on the air basically to get a report here or
Speaker 3: something there. And when the pandemic happened, all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: I was the person there and available and stepped in
Speaker 3: and was able to then do this show. And when
Speaker 3: I got pandemic What you Need to Know, GMA three,
Speaker 3: What You Need to Know, I felt like I found
Speaker 3: my purpose again. I was deeply considering leaving the industry.
Speaker 3: I was deeply considering not renewing a contract and walking
Speaker 3: away forever from journalism because I was so disheartened. And
Speaker 3: that show brought me back to life journalistically speaking, and
Speaker 3: then I found the love of my life and the process.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that show meant everything to me.
Speaker 1: And so it's rope. It's difficult anytime it's offensive, and
Speaker 1: we can't answer everybody what is wildly offensive anybody anytime
Speaker 1: somebody suggests that we might gloat or be excited or
Speaker 1: root for the demise of that show or anybody at
Speaker 1: that network, that place is special to us. That show
Speaker 1: is special to us, and no matter what, we are
Speaker 1: still rooting for it. But this was the first time
Speaker 1: that you and I privately, certainly not publicly, but folks
Speaker 1: might not believe this, this latest round of news is
Speaker 1: the first time that we ever had a real thought
Speaker 1: of or a desire or a wish that we could
Speaker 1: be back there, a thought that man, I wish we
Speaker 1: never left, or have a regret, even because we don't
Speaker 1: deal in regrets at all. But this is special to us,
Speaker 1: this show is, and this.
Speaker 2: Sucks, It absolutely sucks.
Speaker 3: Good Morning America saved my life. I mean I had
Speaker 3: my Mamma Van, my mammogram in that Mamma Van because
Speaker 3: of an assignment from Good Morning America. So that show
Speaker 3: is This isn't just about a job or a career.
Speaker 3: This is about for me life or death. I mean,
Speaker 3: these are heavy, important, real feelings and topics that all
Speaker 3: stem from that building and those people and that show,
Speaker 3: and we are rooting for them, and there is yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, there's just so much sadness that we can't
Speaker 3: be a part of it still, and we always we
Speaker 3: never I think everyone knows this. Hopefully we've made it clear.
Speaker 3: We never wanted to leave. We loved our jobs and
Speaker 3: we loved the people we worked with, and we're so
Speaker 3: sad to see what's happened.
Speaker 1: And you know what, it's fair to say, they're going
Speaker 1: to be okay, right, they'll figure it out, they'll find
Speaker 1: a way. When the industry is evolving and digital streaming,
Speaker 1: a lot of attentions being put there. But these things
Speaker 1: happen in the.
Speaker 2: My grandma, these things happen.
Speaker 1: But in the business long enough, you see these, you do?
Speaker 1: You see these just awful turnovers and whatnot. And look,
Speaker 1: I had another note in here that I wanted to
Speaker 1: give you before we wrapped up, and not give you,
Speaker 1: but I was wondering, do you remember do you have
Speaker 1: a fond of GM A three memory? I didn't. I
Speaker 1: didn't plan on this, but I'm thinking now for myself,
Speaker 1: even a fond is GM A three memory?
Speaker 3: One of my I can tell you probably my favorite
Speaker 3: favorite GM A three episode was when we were in
Speaker 3: London on the final day, up on that rooftop and
Speaker 3: just to say, look at how far this show has
Speaker 3: come and look at us here, you know, after we
Speaker 3: fought so hard to be there and to bring the
Speaker 3: show that we had, we did feel like we had
Speaker 3: the support of the network.
Speaker 2: Then in that moment, yes, yes, I was.
Speaker 1: Trying to remember. Yes, it was for me.
Speaker 3: I was like this, this is such a surreal, beautiful phenomenon,
Speaker 3: And in that moment, I thought we made it.
Speaker 2: This show is relevant.
Speaker 3: It got the support of bringing its entire or not
Speaker 3: its entire, but a large majority of its staff to
Speaker 3: cover one of the biggest events in the world this century.
Speaker 3: I felt the weight and monumentalness of that moment, and
Speaker 3: I just really remember shooting that and feeling so much
Speaker 3: joy on that.
Speaker 2: Rooftop with you.
Speaker 1: I had to go back. It's weird to go back
Speaker 1: to London. We did shows out of London, full shows
Speaker 1: out of London that were incredible. We had experiences around London,
Speaker 1: to shooting different stories around that was incredible. That we
Speaker 1: served both shows. That was a special time and look,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure we say this well, I
Speaker 1: don't know the anchor of Current DeMarco. Yes, I don't
Speaker 1: know him well. I think i've met him before. I
Speaker 1: don't know him well, but Eva with someone we have
Speaker 1: known for a long time and just absolute and we
Speaker 1: know how good she is and capable she is and kind,
Speaker 1: all of.
Speaker 2: This absolutely kind, kind, as good as they come.
Speaker 1: We're absolutely rooting. This is not a we're making no comparisons.
Speaker 1: They were put into a situation they didn't expect to
Speaker 1: be put into with that show. So this this is
Speaker 1: not a matter of us comparison, making comparison or we're better,
Speaker 1: we can do it better. It's just a matter of
Speaker 1: we did. We were there, and we're able to establish
Speaker 1: that thing in a different way, and now they're in
Speaker 1: different times and they're not doing as much trial, they're
Speaker 1: not going live everywhere.
Speaker 2: That Yeah, I think it's important to point out too,
Speaker 2: we don't know. That's the thing. We don't know what
Speaker 2: would have happened, you know, dud We have no idea. Immediately,
Speaker 2: we have no idea.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, very next month we could have taken a
Speaker 1: note that.
Speaker 3: The what ifs are gone, all stretches of the spectrum,
Speaker 3: like who knows what would have happened or could have happened,
Speaker 3: and that is such a The industry changes from month
Speaker 3: to month and certainly from year to years, so who
Speaker 3: knows what we would have been up against.
Speaker 1: But I loved it. It's true, So it's I couldn't
Speaker 1: believe my reaction either genuine reaction to hear him say
Speaker 1: over the phone that what had happened to GMA three
Speaker 1: It was devastating. So we continue to root for them.
Speaker 1: Our hearts go out to everybody that loses the job
Speaker 1: over there, and we're rooting for him to come back
Speaker 1: in a major way.
Speaker 3: Maybe this new restructuring will be exactly the lifeline that
Speaker 3: they needed to really start growing and building back again,
Speaker 3: and we certainly hope that's the case for everybody.
Speaker 1: And here's the lie. I guess we've heard these before,
Speaker 1: but the line rethinking the way we work to future
Speaker 1: proof our team regrettably includes reductions to our extraordinary staff.
Speaker 1: That was the line from the statement may from the
Speaker 1: ABC News president. And you hear that, Yeah, you understand it.
Speaker 1: But when you're on the way out the door, that's tough.
Speaker 1: That's tough. And look, you and I have been to
Speaker 1: people on the way out the door for very different reasons.
Speaker 1: But we have and it seems like nobody leaves that.
Speaker 1: Who told us that nobody leaves? Obviously? Pretty?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm oh, I remember who told us that someone
Speaker 3: who wants worked there?
Speaker 1: Who would know? Okay, you just can't get out of there?
Speaker 1: Pretty Oh my goodness. So to our folks there, love you,
Speaker 1: still rooting for you, and I guess the industry is changing.
Speaker 1: I mean, go through the names. This is this is
Speaker 1: the sign right, how much the industry is changed.
Speaker 3: To copy, next, next, Norah, O'Donnell.
Speaker 1: Yep, And we got a few more for you here
Speaker 1: as well. Probably, But there's going to be more of
Speaker 1: these names because the industry can't support the contracts. We've
Speaker 1: been told this for several years. So these big, big,
Speaker 1: top dollar talent you are going to see start to go.
Speaker 3: By the way, it's hard to justify twenty million dollar
Speaker 3: plus contracts with these declining numbers, declining ratings, declining revenue.
Speaker 2: Something has to give.
Speaker 1: So was the result going to be cheaper, not as
Speaker 1: well known, and maybe not as talented talent?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Is that going to work?
Speaker 2: Who knows?
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's a whole new world and a
Speaker 3: whole new landscape with so many competing news sources.
Speaker 1: Well, Robes, I am very happy to still be sitting
Speaker 1: next to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we got our podcast.
Speaker 1: So folks can see. She is still to this day
Speaker 1: sitting to my left, just as if we were on
Speaker 1: television right now. But folks, we always appreciate you listening
Speaker 1: to us. For now, I'm GJ and I'm Amy.
Speaker 2: Have a great day, everybody,