“Good Morning America” has lost its heat, figuratively and literally.
The morning show has reportedly seen a significant dip in the ratings as Disney and ABC migrate from its former NYC headquarters to a new building downtown.
Some staffers, however, are still forced to work in chilly conditions at its HQ on the Upper West Side, where “There’s no Wi-Fi, no heat, the antenna ripped off the building over the weekend and they’re not replacing it,” one source griped.
Another source told Page Six, “The heat is off!” Yet another added, “It smells like crap.”
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5 ABC has been in an “old and musty building,” as one source described it, since the 1980s.
Parent company Disney acquired the news network in 1995.
The studio sold the complex in 2018 for nearly $1 billion, but remained tenants while staffers prepared for a big, shiny move to Hudson Square.
Allegedly, the new owners are tearing down the old digs and replacing them with high-rises, which means “There’s no incentive for upkeep,” a source previously told us.
5 In 2023, we reported about an infestation of mice and a coterie of fleas at the building that forced employees to “refrain from working on the fifth floor.”
They’ve also experienced broken elevators and escalators in their final chapter at the complex. “The building is falling apart. It’s going to get condemned. It’s been a slow burn, and they’re not going to fix anything. It’s getting torn down,” the first source said.
Meanwhile, the old building’s not the only thing that’s going down.
ABC’s flagship morning show, “GMA,” has been consistently losing ratings to NBC rival “Today.”
Media newsletter Status reported it’s gotten so bad, the show’s exec producer, Simone Swink, even acknowledged there’s work to do in Monday’s morning meeting.
Status further reported that Disney exec Debra O’Connell, who was tapped to oversee the news division earlier this year, and the network’s new president, Almin Karamehmedovic, “have privately expressed dismay about the lagging ‘GMA’ ratings.”
5 Fortunately for Swink, insiders are confident she’s the one to pull them out of their ratings slump.
“Simone is beloved. She is one of the hardest-working people in television and saved [‘GMA’] from hemorrhaging more viewers. There is no one who knows morning television better than her,” an insider said.
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