Drama erupted when Michael Strahan announced in April 2016 that he was leaving "Live! With Kelly and Michael" after nearly four years and heading to a lucrative new gig on "Good Morning America." Reports revealed that co-host Kelly Ripa was "blindsided" by Michael's bombshell decision, which she'd learned about just minutes before it was made public.
Now, two and a half years later, Page Six reports, Kelly and current "Live!" co-host Ryan Seacrest are beating Michael in the ratings.
In September, the former pro football player and Sara Haines teamed up to co-host a new third hour of ABC's "Good Morning America" dubbed "GMA Day." According to Page Six, "early numbers have it trailing his former show by more than a million viewers," though the New York Post gossip column also points out that it's "very early days."
According to Nielsen ratings, "GMA Day" has 1.76 million viewers while "Live! With Kelly and Ryan" had 2.85 million for the same period.
Michael, however, isn't concerned — nor is ABC, Page Six reports. "Michael is having a great time working at 'GMA' and 'GMA Day.' He isn't worried at all. He recognizes that 'GMA Day' is a new show, and sometimes it takes a minute to get it going. He loves working with Sara and the new team and is very happy being there," a source close to him told the Post.
ABC News president James Goldston also weighed in, telling Page Six that the network is thrilled with how "GMA Day" is going so far. "We're incredibly happy with Michael and Sara and their performance on the show. We are two months in, ahead of schedule and right on track," the exec said. "Michael brings the leadership we know so well from his football days to the show — we couldn't be in better hands."
"GMA Day" is also bringing in fewer viewers than "The Chew" — which was canceled after seven seasons in May after co-host Mario Batali was accused of sexual misconduct — did in the same time slot. (Page Six reports that "The Chew" was getting 2.25 million viewers in 2017.) But "The Chew," an insider told Page Six, also kicked off with a smaller viewership before growing its ratings.