Kim Godwin, who made historical past as the primary Black girl to run a broadcast TV information division, is leaving ABC Information after a turbulent three-year run.
The Walt Disney Co.-owned community introduced Godwin’s departure Sunday in a memo from Debra OConnell, president of Information Group and Networks. Godwin joined ABC in Might 2021 from CBS Information, the place she was an government vp and oversaw its range efforts.
OConnell mentioned she is going to oversee the information division “in the intervening time.”
Godwin signed a brand new take care of ABC in February, when the corporate put her division underneath OConnell, a veteran Disney government. The transfer put a layer between Godwin and high management at Disney, by no means an excellent signal for an government’s future on the Burbank-based leisure firm. She had been reporting to Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Leisure.
“I understood and appreciated the profound significance of being the primary Black girl to steer a nationwide broadcast information community once I accepted the function as president of ABC Information a bit over three years in the past,” Godwin mentioned in a word to employees that was shared with The Occasions. “It’s each a privilege and a debt to those that chipped away earlier than me to steer a staff whose model is synonymous with belief, integrity and a dogged dedication to be the most effective within the enterprise.”
Godwin was employed 10 months after the dismissal of Barbara Fedida, longtime high government in control of enterprise affairs. An inner investigation discovered that Fedida made what Disney known as “racially insensitive feedback” concerning the community’s Black expertise. Godwin’s predecessor James Goldston, who was not implicated within the investigation, left his put up as ABC Information president six months after Fedida’s exit.
Godwin was introduced in to enhance the tradition on the division. However she was beleaguered by whispered criticism from nameless sources of her administration fashion, which grated on the hard-nosed veterans on the community. She reportedly led “Blissful Birthday” singalongs at morning conferences and emphasised life-work steadiness, a overseas idea to many longtimers in a division recognized for its cutthroat environment. Godwin was additionally described as indifferent from the division’s day-to-day operations.
As a part of a wave of Disney job reductions final yr, Godwin made sweeping cuts within the division. Some staffers have been sad on the therapy of veteran executives who have been pushed out the door.
However Godwin may need survived any points along with her administration fashion if ABC Information packages maintained their aggressive positions over the previous yr. “Good Morning America,” essentially the most watched morning program and the supply of many of the information division’s revenue, has been shedding floor.
NBC’s “At this time” scored an atypical weekly win over “GMA” in morning viewers final month, in accordance with Nielsen. It was the primary time in two years this system has received outdoors of the weeks when NBC is carrying the Olympics, or in the course of the vacation season when viewers tune in to see the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree.
“At this time” recurrently beats “GMA” within the 25-to-54 age group advertisers want when shopping for information programming. However “CBS Mornings,” which runs third total, has sometimes topped “GMA” within the demographic on some days as effectively.
“GMA” could have suffered from personnel strikes that occurred on Godwin’s watch. Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, who co-hosted the afternoon present “GMA 3,” have been fired final yr after the tabloids uncovered a romantic relationship between the 2. Each have been married on the time.
Robach and Holmes have been frequent fill-ins on the flagship version of “GMA,” co-anchored by George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan. Morning viewing is behavior pushed, and the departure of expertise — even prolonged members of the family of a program — could be disruptive.
ABC additionally misplaced Cecilia Vega, one other frequent “GMA” fill-in, to CBS, which made her a correspondent at “60 Minutes.”
Including to the tumult, ABC Information misplaced one other veteran expertise final week when meteorologist Rob Marciano was fired over alleged behavioral points within the office.