# Good Morning America

**Good Morning America** (commonly abbreviated **GMA**) is an American weekday morning television news program broadcast on the ABC network, featuring anchors [Robin Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-roberts-newscaster), George Stephanopoulos, Michael Strahan, and chief meteorologist [Ginger Zee](https://www.edgepedia.org/ginger-zee).<sup>[1](https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/about-the-show/1000)</sup> It premiered on November 3, 1975, with co-anchors David Hartman and Nancy Dussault, and celebrated its 50th anniversary on November 3, 2025.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> The program combines breaking news, interviews, investigations, medical information, and financial reporting, and airs live Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. ET.<sup>[1](https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/about-the-show/1000)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | November 3, 1975, co-anchored by David Hartman and Nancy Dussault<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> |
| Weekday anchors | Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Michael Strahan, and chief meteorologist Ginger Zee<sup>[1](https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/about-the-show/1000)</sup> |
| Air time | Live weekdays 7:00–9:00 a.m. ET on ABC; also streams on Hulu and the ABC app<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://abc.com/show/f17f433e-bd1f-4686-9994-9d3aea9f8c2d)</sup>  |
| Afternoon edition | GMA3, a one-hour program airing weekdays at 1:00 p.m. ET, announced in 2018 as a replacement for the canceled cooking series The Chew<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup> |
| Recent ratings | 3.065 million total viewers for the week of January 26, 2026, its largest audience in nearly two years<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup> |
| Ratings standing | NBC's Today ended GMA's 14-year run as the No. 1 morning news show in total viewers during the 2025–2026 season<sup>[5](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/here-are-the-morning-news-ratings-for-the-2025-2026-tv-season/)</sup> |

## Format and on-air team

The weekday broadcast presents a mix of hard news and lifestyle content. ABC describes the program as an award-winning combination of breaking news, hard-hitting interviews, exclusive investigations, cutting-edge medical information, and financial reporting, watched by millions of viewers.<sup>[1](https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/about-the-show/1000)</sup> The show has won [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards).<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup>

The current weekday anchor team of Roberts, Stephanopoulos, and Strahan has been in place since Strahan moved from the syndicated talk show *Live! with Kelly and Michael* to GMA in 2016.<sup>[6](https://time.com/4329136/michael-strahan-kelly-ripa-live-with-kelly-and-michael/)</sup> In 2018, [Diane Sawyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/diane-sawyer) and Robin Roberts were described by *Time* as the first team of two women leading a morning show, a pairing that preceded NBC's later all-female Today team.<sup>[7](https://time.com/5083901/today-hoda-kotb-co-anchor-news/)</sup>

The franchise extends beyond the two-hour morning broadcast. GMA3, an afternoon one-hour edition airing at 1:00 p.m. Weekend editions air Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. ET; beginning September 12, 2026, [Rachel Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/rachel-scott) co-anchors Saturdays with Whit Johnson, Rhiannon Ally co-anchors Sundays with Gio Benitez, and Leslie Lopez serves as weekend meteorologist.<sup>[8](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-saturday-and-sunday-team-grows-with-new-co-anchors-and-a-new-weekend-format/)</sup> Simone Swink is the senior executive producer of the GMA franchise, overseeing the flagship program, GMA3, and the overnight programs World News Now and Good Morning America First Look.<sup>[8](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-saturday-and-sunday-team-grows-with-new-co-anchors-and-a-new-weekend-format/)</sup>

## History

ABC's first attempt at a modern morning program came on January 6, 1975, with AM America, an effort to compete with NBC's Today.

**The 1975 launch.** Good Morning America began on November 3, 1975, with Hartman, previously an actor, and Dussault, a Tony-nominated actress who had been hired about ten days before the first broadcast.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> Hartman hosted from 1975 to 1986.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> [Joan Lunden](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-lunden), previously a reporter at WABC-TV, joined on August 28, 1980, replacing Sandy Hill as co-host alongside Hartman.<sup>[9](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/Good-Morning-America/full)</sup> In the early 1980s GMA took over the top spot in morning ratings from Today for a time.<sup>[10](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Great-Moments-in-Television-Aylesworth-1987.pdf)</sup>

**The Lunden-Gibson era.** On February 23, 1987, Lunden began co-hosting with ABC News correspondent [Charles Gibson](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-gibson), a pairing that significantly boosted ratings and led GMA to frequently outperform Today.<sup>[9](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/Good-Morning-America/full)</sup> Lunden co-anchored the program for nearly 20 years.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> By the end of the 1980s, ABC dominated morning programming with the show.<sup>[11](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Les-Brown-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Brown-3rd-1992.pdf)</sup>

**Later decades.** Co-anchors of the following decades included Diane Sawyer, Charlie Gibson, Kevin Newman, and Lisa McRee, all of whom joined the 50th-anniversary broadcast in 2025 alongside Hartman and Dussault.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> Sawyer, who spent nearly 11 years on the program, said she was told she had traveled the equivalent of 14 times around the globe during her tenure.<sup>[2](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)</sup> In 2012, the abrupt departure of [Ann Curry](https://www.edgepedia.org/ann-curry) from Today drove many viewers to switch to GMA, a moment chronicled in journalist [Brian Stelter](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-stelter)'s book *Top of the Morning*.<sup>[12](https://time.com/5708304/the-morning-show-true-story/)</sup>

## Ratings rivalry with Today

GMA's principal competitor throughout its history has been NBC's Today. In 1993, GMA drew a 4.7 rating against Today's 4.3 and CBS Morning Show's 3.2.<sup>[13](https://assets.pewresearch.org/files/journalism/State-of-the-News-Media-Report-2006-FINAL.pdf)</sup> By the 2020s the two programs traded the lead. For the week of January 26, 2026, GMA averaged 3.065 million total viewers, 527,000 adults 25-54, and 352,000 adults 18-49, against Today's 3.095 million, 652,000, and 436,000, and CBS Mornings' 1.833 million, 285,000, and 188,000.<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup> That week was GMA's largest overall audience in nearly two years, and it led CBS Mornings in total viewers for the 1,411st consecutive week, a streak dating to the week of January 18, 1999.<sup>[3](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)</sup>

The 2025–2026 season ended a long streak: NBC's Today captured the top spot in total viewers, ending GMA's 14-year run as the No. 1 morning news show.<sup>[5](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/here-are-the-morning-news-ratings-for-the-2025-2026-tv-season/)</sup> The gap has since narrowed and reversed at times; GMA was within 25,000 total viewers of Today for the week of March 16, 2026, averaging 2.964 million viewers and 500,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic,<sup>[14](https://www.tvinsider.com/1254428/gma-ratings-nbc-today-cbs-mornings/)</sup> and during the week of July 6, 2026, GMA broke a 24-week Today win streak before widening its lead the following week.<sup>[15](https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/gma-widens-gap-shocker-ratings-152241265.html)</sup> As of February 2026, Today commanded 41 percent of the total morning-show viewership among the three broadcast networks, while GMA drew 36 percent and CBS Mornings 23 percent.<sup>[16](https://www.thedailybeast.com/today-viewership-skyrockets-after-nancy-guthrie-abduction/)</sup>

## Reception and standing

Ad Fontes Media rates ABC's Good Morning America as Middle in bias, with a score of -5.14 on a scale from -42 (most left) to +42 (most right), and Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting in reliability, with a score of 41.12 on a 0-64 scale.<sup>[17](https://adfontesmedia.com/good-morning-america-bias-and-reliability/)</sup> A Pew Research Center study of morning-show content found that, although GMA tended more toward hard news, especially after September 11, it devoted a similar amount of time as its competitors to segments selling viewers something, such as multi-day special features that served as daily promotions for the program.<sup>[18](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/legacy/agenda.pdf)</sup>

## References

1. [About Good Morning America, ABC.com](https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/about-the-show/1000)
2. ['Good Morning America' celebrates its 50th anniversary, ABC News (GMA), November 3, 2025](https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/good-morning-america-celebrates-50th-anniversary-127117676)
3. ['Good Morning America' Draws Its Largest Total Audience in Two Years with More Than 3 Million Viewers, ABC News press release, February 3, 2026](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-draws-its-largest-total-audience-in-two-years-with-more-than-3-million-viewers/)
4. [Watch Good Morning America, ABC.com](https://abc.com/show/f17f433e-bd1f-4686-9994-9d3aea9f8c2d)
5. [Here Are the Morning News Ratings for the 2025-2026 TV Season, Adweek](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/here-are-the-morning-news-ratings-for-the-2025-2026-tv-season/)
6. [Michael Strahan's Final 'Kelly and Michael' Episode Emphasized Fun and Continuity, Time](https://time.com/4329136/michael-strahan-kelly-ripa-live-with-kelly-and-michael/)
7. [Why Hoda Kotb Is a Revolutionary Pick to Replace Matt Lauer, Time](https://time.com/5083901/today-hoda-kotb-co-anchor-news/)
8. ['Good Morning America' Saturday and Sunday Team Grows with New Co-Anchors and a New Weekend Format, ABC News press release, September 9, 2026](https://www.detpress.com/abcnews/pressrelease/good-morning-america-saturday-and-sunday-team-grows-with-new-co-anchors-and-a-new-weekend-format/)
9. [Full History of Good Morning America in Timeline from 1975, Popular Timelines](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/Good-Morning-America/full)
10. [Great Moments of Television, Aylesworth (1987), WorldRadioHistory](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Great-Moments-in-Television-Aylesworth-1987.pdf)
11. [Encyclopedia of Television, Les Brown, 3rd ed. (1992), WorldRadioHistory](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Les-Brown-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Brown-3rd-1992.pdf)
12. [How The Morning Show Pulls From Real-Life Scandal, Time](https://time.com/5708304/the-morning-show-true-story/)
13. [Morning News Ratings, State of the News Media Report 2006, Pew Research Center](https://assets.pewresearch.org/files/journalism/State-of-the-News-Media-Report-2006-FINAL.pdf)
14. ['GMA' Ratings Take Big Swing: How Show Is Doing Compared With 'Today' & 'CBS Mornings', TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1254428/gma-ratings-nbc-today-cbs-mornings/)
15. ['GMA' Widens Gap in Shocker Ratings Battle With 'Today' & 'CBS Mornings', AT&T/Yahoo](https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/gma-widens-gap-shocker-ratings-152241265.html)
16. ['Today' Viewership Skyrockets After Nancy Guthrie Abduction, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/today-viewership-skyrockets-after-nancy-guthrie-abduction/)
17. [Good Morning America Bias and Reliability, Ad Fontes Media](https://adfontesmedia.com/good-morning-america-bias-and-reliability/)
18. [June Findings, Pew Research Center agenda study](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/legacy/agenda.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcast networks and channel brands › US television networks › US network affiliation and operations*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license
