That's the news from Joe Hagen at New York magazine, in this long (but worth reading) piece. Before ABC tapped Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas to be co-anchors on World News Tonight, they approached Charles Gibson, asking him to "keep the seat warm" until the 2008 election and then they would find a permanent anchor. But Gibson said he didn't want to just fill the seat (and he also didn't want to continue doing Good Morning, America), and that if he didn't get the anchor position for good - and without Vargas - then he was going to walk.Vargas is said to have been surprised by her ouster from the show.
[via Romenesko]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-12-2006 @ 1:42PM
Gordy said...
Well, according to VARGAS, she was not suprised, and wants time off to be with her new family.
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6-12-2006 @ 2:00PM
Bebop said...
of course she'd say that, would she bad mouth and shout about losing one position while she still holds another position for the same company? That would be stupid, so she goes along with it to keep her position on 20/20.
I vehemently dislike Gibson and I hope his venture into evening news fails miserably. He's absolutely terrible at it. He is certainly no Peter Jennings.
It would serve him right for acting like such a child.
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6-12-2006 @ 3:28PM
Brent McKee said...
Gibson comes across to the casual observer as a spoiled child who basically told his bosses "Give me the job on my terms or I'll run away and then you'll be sorry." On the other hand Dianne Sawyer comes across as someone who is willing to take a career hit for the team and stay at GMA even though she's at least as qualified as Gibson for the big seat. And ABC news boss David Westin comes across as a weak figure who gets pushed around by talent. Can you imagine Roone Arledge letting Gibson get away with this power play? Then again can you imagine Roone Arledge getting into a situation like this in the first place?
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6-13-2006 @ 12:07PM
TVSeriesFinale said...
If it's true, I don't blame Gibson in the least. He was part of Good Morning America for years and then, when the network wanted to rework the show, they threw him and Joan Lunden off the show. Months later, when ratings were even worse and ABC realized that they'd made a big mistake, he agreed to come back to the show -- and pulled double duty, filling in last year on the nightly news and contributing to the news magazines.
My point is that, for the longest time, the network kicked him around. Now that his popularity has risen and ABC needs him, I'm glad he's using the power to his advantage.
If he wasn't useful to them, I have no doubt they'd dump him yet again. Whereas Today Show hosts usually seem to leave on their own terms, GMA seems to have a history of kicking people out.
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