George Stephanopoulos is scaling back his hosting duties on ABC’s “This Week” from three times a month to twice a month. The news was first reported by Politico’s Dylan Byers.
Stephanopoulos wears many hats at the network: in addition to anchoring “Good Morning America” and serving as the primary fill-in for “World News,” he is the chief political correspondent, co-anchoring all of ABC’s political coverage. He will still be heavily involved in the show even on weeks he does not host, an ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser.
Martha Raddatz, ABC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, will continue in her role as primary fill-in on “This Week.” Raddatz typically hosts one show a month from Washington, D.C.
Sources at ABC News tell TVNewser Raddatz will not always be in the anchor chair on weeks when Stephanopoulos is off, though: the show will be planned with a “mix and match” strategy using a combination of Raddatz and ABC’s chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl based on the news of the week.
Stephanopoulos has anchored “This Week” since Christiane Amanpour left the program in 2011. ABC originally said his appointment was only through the 2013 Inauguration, citing his intense workload for the network. At the end of 2012, it was announced that he would remain the show’s primary anchor through the end of 2013.
Since Stephanopoulos has been in the anchor chair, “This Week” has surged in the ratings: the show is currently in a tight three-way race with CBS’ “Face the Nation” and NBC’s “Meet the Press” for the top spot among the Sunday public affairs shows. With Raddatz hosting last week, ABC delivered its best total-viewer advantage over NBC in 16 years.