'People Are Relieved': Staffers Celebrate ABC News Shakeup After President Kim Godwin's Sudden Demotion: Report
Godwin was effectively demoted in February when Disney tapped veteran executive Debra OConnell for a newly created position that oversees ABC News.
Feb. 16 2024, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Staffers at ABC News are reportedly celebrating this week after President Kim Godwin was essentially demoted from the network, RadarOnline.com has learned.
ABC, which is owned by Disney, announced on Wednesday that veteran executive Debra OConnell was picked to helm a brand-new division that will oversee ABC News following poor ratings on programs like Good Morning America and World News Tonight with David Muir.
ABC shows like "Good Morning America" have reportedly suffered poor ratings under Godwin's leadership.
According to the New York Post, staffers at the network cheered and celebrated following OConnell’s promotion and Godwin’s effective demotion on Wednesday.
Some staffers reportedly shouted “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead” while others allegedly “celebrated at the bar.”
“The mood after the announcement was very light and happy. People are relieved,” one network insider told the Post. “They feel the network can get back to its glory days with Debra coming in.”
Meanwhile, Godwin was given a three-year contract extension shortly after OConnell’s promotion to helm the new division on Wednesday – but that might not mean that Godwin is safe from getting axed from the network.
“She has to take swift moves,” a person familiar with the inner workings of ABC News told CNN of OConnell.
According to one ABC insider, “everyone” at the network “gets renewed and then dumped” because that is “the ABC News and Disney way.”
“This is the beginning of the transition,” one source close to the network told the Post. “Everyone gets renewed and then dumped. It’s the ABC News and Disney way.”
“It’s called the cost of doing business,” a former Disney executive added. “Renew her. Guarantee three years of money and then let her de-select and decide it’s time to go write her leadership book, which she is planning.”
As RadarOnline.com previously noted, Godwin’s apparent demotion came as ABC’s flagship shows like GMA and World News Tonight with David Muir continue to struggle in the ratings – particularly against similar shows at rival networks like NBC and CBS News.
"World News Tonight with David Muir" has also suffered poor ratings under Godwin's recent leadership.
Godwin also faced backlash for a series of significant scandals that unfolded under her leadership – including the controversy surrounding former GMA3 co-hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’s secret love affair and Whoopi Goldberg’s short suspension from The View.
“Godwin rarely visits GMA studios unless it’s for a photo-op for her Instagram page,” one ABC insider said this week.
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“Shows like GMA, you need someone at the top driving competition,” another network source explained.
“There hasn’t been a driven person at the top since Ben Sherwood and James Goldston, who were producers,” that source continued. “They were in the control room. They were driven to compete, which makes a difference.”
Godwin was in charge when the Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes secret affair scandal rocked "GMA3" in 2022 and 2023.
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While the network shakeup was only just announced on Wednesday, some staffers are already foreseeing a clash between Godwin and OConnell as OConnell prepares to start her new role overseeing ABC News.
“The floodgates are going to open,” one staffer warned. “Anything that is important is going to run through Debra. No agent, no talent is going to go through Kim, not if it’s important.”
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