NEW YORK (AP) - Robin Roberts is comfortable in the knowledge
that when ABC's "Good Morning America" makeover is complete, she
will keep her seat at the anchor desk. She just doesn't know who
will be sitting next to her.
As she waits, ABC is showing her some love. Roberts is the
centerpiece for two prime-time specials this month: a Tuesday night
hour featuring country music stars and an interview with Janet
Jackson that will air on Nov. 18. The Jackson interview is the type
of important "get" for which Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters
used to compete.
The specials could be read as both internal and external signs
of Roberts' importance to the news division. She's worked at ABC
News or cable sister ESPN since 1990 and her contract expires in
the spring.
ABC News President David Westin expects to choose Diane Sawyer's
replacement as "GMA" anchor in December, spokesman Jeffrey
Schneider said. Sawyer is taking over for Charles Gibson at "World
News" at the end of the year.
Like most people at ABC, Roberts is keeping mum about the search
("I haven't seen a list yet") and certainly won't express a
favorite. Two people thought to be contenders - George
Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo - have filled in as co-anchors in
recent weeks.
Even though she's been a "GMA" anchor since 2005, Roberts, 49,
acknowledges that Sawyer's experience and stature makes her a first
among equals.
She expects that to change.
"I always want to be a team player," said the former
Southeastern Louisiana basketball star. "I'm not making any
demands, or feeling like, `Ah-ha, now it's my turn.' I'm the nice
one. I do throw some elbows under the basket, though."
ABC's morning show is a longtime, yet profitable, No. 2 to NBC's
dominant "Today" show, and Roberts doesn't seem to expect the
coming anchor change will bring with it a dramatic format shift.
"I have my routine in the morning and when it changes a little
bit, I feel off-kilter," she said. "I can't imagine any sweeping
changes, but you're always evaluating what your audience wants."
Roberts is serving an important role during a transition period
for the show, said Jim Murphy, "Good Morning America" executive
producer. "She's doing a lot of hard work right now. She keeps the
show steady," he said.
Roberts has spent much of the past week preparing for her
Jackson interview, which will be filmed at the singer's home in
Malibu, Calif.
She has a difficult balancing act. Jackson is still mourning the
death of her brother Michael, a story that continues to fascinate
the public. But she's also a major star in her own right, with
something to sell: Jackson has a greatest hits CD coming out in
time for the holidays.
Roberts said she hasn't determined in advance how much of the
interview would be related to Michael Jackson.
"I don't go in with a stack of questions and say three-quarters
are going to be about this and one-quarter will be about that,"
she said. "I like to have a conversation. I like to walk away and
have the person say, `I thought we were going to do an interview
and we just talked."'
Same thing with the country music stars. Her "All Access
Nashville" special at 10 p.m. EST on Tuesday features interviews
with Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Loretta Lynn,
Rosanne Cash and Vince Gill. She asks President Barack Obama, among
others, about their favorite country tunes, bowls with Underwood
and goes skeet shooting with McGraw.
For a woman who began her career spinning country music records
at a radio station in Hammond, La., it's a return to her roots.
It sounds simple, but one of the things she's proud of in the
special is being able to smoothly work in some questions to
Underwood about the singer's boyfriend. She doesn't like asking
personal questions, which are necessary when you're promising a
peek backstage at stars.
That's because she tends to be a private person in a public job.
Roberts talked on ABC about her fight with breast cancer and how
Hurricane Katrina affected her family on the Gulf Coast. When
you're on TV every morning, it's hard to hide your heritage, or not
address it when your hair is falling out because of cancer
treatment. Otherwise, she concentrates on the work.
For those reasons, Roberts said it was difficult speaking to
McGraw about his family and abuse he witnessed as a child because
she didn't want the interview to feel like it was done only to sell
headlines.
"I think that's why I work so well with some celebrities," she
said, "because they understand I understand exactly where they're
coming from."
On the Net:
http://www.abcnews.com
EDITOR'S NOTE - David Bauder can be reached at
dbauder"at"ap.org
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