‘Good Morning America’ Thumps ‘Today’ As NBC News Makes Move To Get Jamie Horowitz On Board Early
ABC News’ Good Morning America clobbered NBC’s Today in the July sweep, taking key target demos and besting Today by its largest news demo and 18-49 margins during any sweep in more than two decades. GMA grew in both demos compared with the July 2013 sweep, while NBC’s program declined, as did CBS This Morning.
The July sweep results coincide with news that NBC has agreed to let Bill Wolff, VP Primetime Programs at MSNBC and EP of The Rachel Maddow Show, out of his contract to move to 
ABC, in order to get ABC’s parent company to allow ESPN top programmer Jamie Horowitz take the helm at Today in September – three months earlier than expected. NBC announced in May that Horowitz would start December 1, overseeing all four hours of the weekday show and the 30 Rock concert series, as NBC News struggles to regain Today’s ratings foothold. “Jamie has the skills, the talent and the experience to lead the Today brand into the future,” NBC News President Deborah Turness said back then. “He is first and foremost a great producer … [and] he comes at things from unexpected angles and has a popular touch combined with real intellectual creativity.”
Related: ESPN’s Jamie Horowitz To Take Charge Of NBC’s ‘Today’ Franchise