ABC

According to sources on the set of "Good Morning America" yesterday, staffers were talking about the "get" that was Chaz Bono.

When the subject of George Stephanopoulos vs. Chris Cuomo came up, the staffers wondered if George could or would even want to pull that interview off. "It's great morning TV to have that exclusive and Cuomo pulled it off without making it feel awkward," one staffer said. "I don't know if George can do those types of interviews and This Week?"

Another expressed concern that those interviews wouldn't even happen with Stephanopoulos there. "The interviews that Cuomo is good at, George couldn't and probably wouldn't want to do. You need those for ratings and if George doesn't want to do them or can't pull them off with some sensitivity, we lose ratings," said the staffer.

A GMA insider responds to TVNewser, "This sounds like someone trying to create an issue where there is none. Both George and Chris are skilled interviewers and terrific broadcasters."

"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts has had two primetime "In the Spotlight" specials this month: one leading up to the CMAs last week and the other a sit-down with Janet Jackson last night.

According to Nielsen overnights, the Janet Jackson special at 10pmET drew 6.6 million Total Viewers for ABC, coming in a distant second to CBS' "CSI: NY," which drew 13.7M viewers. The Roberts special beat out NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" by nearly 2M viewers.

Roberts's special last Tuesday, "Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashville," was a bigger draw with 9.6M Total Viewers. Roberts interviewed Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and Martina McBride giving ABC its biggest audience in that time slot for the season.

When you get an email with the subject line ***MANDATORY STAFF MTG.***- 11/23 @ 2PM EST! ***, you might have reason to worry. When you work for "Good Morning America," it takes on greater significance as the show is about to A) get a new co-anchor and B) get a new manager.

So after that first email went out this afternoon, with this at the end...

*** Please note, this is a mandatory mtg. and your attendance is required! ***

...GMA staffers wondered what this was all about. So EP Tom Cibrowski sent the follow-up email below, which was obtained by TVNewser.

From: Cibrowski, Tom
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:52 PM
To: ABCTV GMA ALL
Subject: RE: ***MANDATORY STAFF MTG.***- 11/23 @ 2PM EST! ***

Wow, this sounds intriguing! - Because inquiring minds all want to know, this is for all of us to get together as we ALWAYS do at the end of Sweeps for some pizza and soft drinks, as we get ready to end one year and start another...there will be time to just chat, ask questions and have some laughs. There will be ice cream too.

• Related: Mediaite - Sources Say Stephanopoulos Can't Keep This Week Gig If He Gets GMA

ABC will have an exclusive interview with Chaz Bono, LGBT rights advocate and Cher's daughter son. Chaz Bono, formerly Chastity Bono, will speak out live for the first time as a man on tomorrow's "Good Morning America." Chris Cuomo will be conducting the interview.

NY Posts' Page 6 reports that insiders at ABC are saying Charlie Gibson was not as happy about his "World News" replacement, Diane Sawyer, as he appeared:

Gibson, 66, had been pushing ABC News president David Westin to promote George Stephanopoulos, the host of Sunday morning's "This Week," as his successor.

"He wanted George to get the job," said one source at the network. "He was shocked when he learned Diane got it, and he was really angry that she stole his thunder. As soon as she was named, it was all about Diane."

These claims were quickly dismissed by Gibson who told Page 6 that the idea of animosity between the two is "just silly" and by an ABC spokeswoman who disagreed...more colorfully: "It's all bull[bleep.] They get along just fine. They went to Walter Cronkite's funeral together. They had lunch last month."

Their first appearance on national TV was on ABC's "Wife Swap" so it's fitting that their final interview before next month's sentencing for the balloon hoax, could end up on ABC.

TVNewser has learned the Heene family is in New York taking meetings and taping an interview with ABC. Last night, producers took the family to dinner. TMZ caught up with the Heenes outside Ocean Grill, not far from ABC News headquarters, but they weren't talking.

ABC picked up the tab and had an SUV take the family back to their hotel.

Rumors that Balloon Boy will appear alongside Snoopy in next week's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade are, so far, unfounded.

We'll keep you posted on when the ABC News interview is set to air.

"I think George would be terrific at it. But I would just say this: 'George, I hope you know what you're gettin' into, son.'"

• From Marisa Guthrie's "Go Ahead, Make My Sunday" story in B&C. More later on Guthrie's piece including the White House v. Fox News and the future of CNN's "State of the Union."

The Daily Beast's Rebecca Dana talks with "two sources close" to "Good Morning America" about the upcoming GMA vacancy. One of them says "It's George's now to lose."

Dana reports ABC News president David Westin traveled to Washington yesterday "and met with Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton aide, about the job."

Says an ABC spokesperson, "Any speculation about a decision is just that, speculation."

Speaking of Clinton, Stephanopoulos has the Secretary of State as his guest this Sunday. Also on the show, the man who almost ran against Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate in 2000 - Rudy Giuliani.

First on TVNewser: Ashleigh Banfield, who made a name for herself earlier in the decade as an anchor/war correspondent on MSNBC, will be joining ABC News, TVNewser has learned.

Banfield, who has been an anchor at CourtTV/truTV since 2005, is expected to join ABC News next year. Without confirming the move, an ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser, "We like Ashleigh Banfield and admire her work."

The most public job opening at the network is co-anchor of "Good Morning America." Diane Sawyer leaves that post next month, and begins anchoring "World News" in January. Banfield is not being looked at for that post, but rather for potential news projects down the road.

"We're always looking at ways to program news on the network and we've tested a number of presentations for expanded news," the ABC spokesperson says. Those presentations included Banfield.

It's too soon to know where that "expanded news" programming would go. Next month, ABC is moving production of daytime drama "All My Children" to Los Angeles while "One Life to Live" will take over the "Children" studio in New York in early January.

Banfield, a naturalized U.S. citizen, born in Canada, is among 65 staffers being cut by Time Warner's truTV. Her last day anchoring "In Session" trial coverage on the New York-based channel is today. The coverage will originate from CNN's Atlanta headquarters beginning Monday.

• Related: The Mediabistro Interview with Ashleigh Banfield

ABC's "Nightline" was a #1 last week in Total Viewers and the 18-49 demo ahead of CBS' "Late Show" and NBC's "Tonight" show. The first place Total Viewer gap was only 2,000 viewers. David Letterman's program was first in the 25-54 demo.

It was also the 20th consecutive week that "Nightline" topped the "Tonight" show in Total Viewers. That's the first time that's happened since the records began being kept in 1991.

Note: CBS and NBC ratings from 11/3 were excluded from the average.

The numbers for the week of October 26: