ABC News Shuffle: All the Wrong Moves

     The retirement of Charles Gibson from ABC News has set off a talent shuffle that will ultimately result in a weakening of their three main broadcasts; World News; Good Morning America; and This Week.

      Diane Sawyer, 64, replaces Mr. Gibson, 66, as the anchor of World News on Monday.  She is not the anchor of the future and will almost certainly be there only a few years.  Sawyer also faces the Katie Couric problem, her legendary interview skills are not suited for the more restrictive role of the evening news anchor.  Her time in the chair represents a lost opportunity for ABC to build up its main franchise.

     After much public soul searching, George Stephanopoulos filled the open slot on Good Morning America this week.  The show will begin to take on a more hard news feel, exactly what the audience doesn't want in the morning hours.  CBS has languished in third place for all of broadcast history mostly providing such a product.   As part of the deal, Mr. Stephanopoulos was given the new title of "Chief Political Correspondent".  It remains unclear how he can fullfill the duties of that job while working mornings in New York interviewing the likes of Brittany Spears and Tiger's mistresses.  A TV Guide poll out this week revealed that 56% of the respondents think George is the wrong choice for a GMA host.  Chris Cuomo probably should have gotten the job, but will instead join Elizabeth Vargas at 20/20, the dumping ground for failed ABC talent.

     The big winner in the ABC shuffle will turn out to be NBC.  The traditional evening news audience will gravitate towards Brian Williams, having already rejected Katie Couric.   GMA will not gain ground on the Today show by adding more hard news.  After finally achieving some stability on Sunday mornings with This Week, the show will now have to be retooled for a new host, handing the advantage back to David Gregory of Meet the Press.

     All of these moves appear to be solely driven by talent ego, with no eye on an overall strategy for the future of ABC News.   The momentum of the past few years will be lost as each show is relaunched with miscast anchors.  As David Letterman likes to say, "You wonder what goes through their mind".