Page Six Reports ABC to Cancel ‘Strahan, Sara and Keke’
Something's up over at ABC. Page Six is reporting that ABC has canceled GMA3: Strahan, Sara and Keke, an offshoot of its flagship AM show, Good Morning America. In its place will be a program called GMA 3: What You Need to Know. But industry trades have reported that nothing's quite confirmed yet...
SSK originally went off the air in mid-March, replaced by a daily coronavirus update called Pandemic: What You Need to Know. Page Six alleged that went so well that it's now being replaced by a regular informational show, covering varied topics. A source told the tabloid:
It was initially supposed to be a two-week experiment and the show did really well.
Another insider noted:
'Strahan, Sara and Keke’ is put on hiatus and it doesn’t look like it’s going to come off.
Page Six confirmed that SSK staff will transition to work on the new program, with producers coming in from ABC News Live. That digital streaming program is helmed by producer Catherine McKenzie.
ABC has not formally confirmed the SSK cancellation yet. However, on Friday, Variety quietly reported that McKenzie was promoted to EP of a program called...you guessed it, GMA 3: What You Need to Know.
The Deadline piece confirmed some of Page Six's reporting, stating:
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'GMA3: What You Need to Know' was created by McKenzie and the 'ABC News Live' team to provide in-depth coverage of all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, booking guests such as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian. McKenzie has worked for 'Good Morning America' since 2009 and has been a leader in ABC News’ livestream coverage of the Oscars, the 2018 midterm elections and Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings. Most recently, she executive produced two primetime specials for ABC, 'America in Pain' and 'Juneteenth.'
Two weeks ago, industry publication Newscast Studio confirmed that the third hour of GMA will be rebranded as GMA 3: What You Need to Know, for now at least, but did not confirm cancellation of SSK. Michael P. Hill wrote:
The new name allows the network to incorporate the 'GMA' brand along with open the potential scope of the show to beyond just COVID-19 — namely the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter movement and social justice issues.
However, the program’s new name is now flexible enough to serve as the home of almost any type of coverage — namely 'major story' and 'news you can use' approaches.
He added:
There’s been no official word from ABC how long 'GMA3: What You Need to Know' will remain on the schedule or if 'Strahan, Sara and Keke' will return.
ABC released a statement to Page Six:
We’re proud of our teams at ‘SSK’ and ‘GMA3’ and how quickly they transitioned to producing a daily show to give people the news and information they need during an unprecedented pandemic, and conversations continue about how the show will evolve in the months ahead.
