But while the ABC show is up in total viewers, the first three months of 2011 saw the lowest delivery ever for the show in the lucrative A25-54 demo. GMA just got a new Senior EP in James Goldston and will soon get a new newsreader in Josh Elliott. Recent promoted programming seems to be geared toward younger demos, including last week’s Britney Spears concert and “big announcement” from Lady Gaga on tomorrow’s show.

Numbers for Q1 2011:

• Total Viewers: NBC: 5,610,000 / ABC: 4,880,000 / CBS: 2,800,000

• A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2,600,000 / ABC: 1,860,000 / CBS: 1,200,000

This is “Today’s” 63rd straight quarter win in total viewers and all demos. But the show was down -2% in total viewers vs. Q1 2010. CBS’s “The Early Show,” in its first full quarter with a new anchor team, was up +1% vs. Q1 2010.

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Whatever the reason (probably the middle one), “Good Morning America” outperformed the “Today” show by 87,000 Total Viewers Monday morning. As we reported Sunday night, it’s big events like these which can give a boost to the following morning’s news shows — sometimes, simply because people leave their TVs on the channel they were watching the night before. “GMA” had Robin Roberts in Hollywood for post-Oscars coverage. She also hosted ABC’s Red Carpet special Sunday night. NBC had Meredith Vieira in Hollywood. And, as you know by now, both shows had interviews with Charlie Sheen. The Oscars telecast on ABC was down -9% compared to the 2010 show. Monday was also James Goldston‘s first day as senior EP of the GMA.

ABC topped NBC in each of the half hours (in fast affiliate numbers) which make up the morning show ratings:

• ABC

7-7:30am — 5.700
7:30am-8am — 5.696
8-8:30am — 5.746

• NBC

7-7:30am — 5.598
7:30am-8am  — 5.667
8-8:30am — 5.617

*Nielsen Fast Affiliate data is time period based

> Update: While the numbers above show “GMA” ahead in affiliate time period Data, “Today” actually comes out on top in fast national program data: 5.970 million viewers vs. GMA’s 5.947 million (advantage “Today” by 23,000 viewers). Also, in the A25-54 demo rating, “Today” had a wide lead, averaging a 2.2 (2.740 million viewers) vs. GMA’s 1.8 (2.296M). Maybe it was Charlie Sheen after all.

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A former staffer on “America’s Got Talent” told TVNewser that Morgan was quite open about his talk show plans, even moreso once an interview in the television trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable came out.

In September, 2008, B&C editor-in-chief Ben Grossman sat down with Morgan, who told him about a concept he was pitching NBC.

See if this sounds familiar to you:

He wants to do an hour-long sit-down with a big name in front of an audience.

But with his outspoken nature and background as a tabloid editor in the United Kingdom, he doesn’t want to do just another talk show.

“I think there’s a gap in American television for that one-on-one, slightly edgy,” he told me last week. “Most talk shows you get seven minutes with a guest and they are plugging something.”

His ideal first two guests would be Britney Spears and Barack Obama — sadly, in that order.

NBC decided not to pursue the concept, but Morgan ended up doing that exact show in the UK in early 2009, “Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.”

And while he didn’t get Britney Spears and Barack Obama, he did get former Spice Girl Gerri Halliwell and UK PM Gordon Brown.

Grossman also asked Morgan what he would do differently if he were to have his own news program:

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That’s right — the American Newsroom anchor called out the pop star today after the music video for Spears’ new single, “If You Seek Amy,” (say it slowly) seems to portray a segment from January in which Kelly challenged the lyrics to the song.

“We have invited Britney Spears to come on this program,” said Kelly. “Showdown!”

Click continued to see the segment…

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If Diane Sawyer plans to leave “Good Morning America” when her contract expires later this year, it’s news to “GMA” boss Jim Murphy.

“I don’t think there will be any changes,” he says. “I don’t want to see her go to another show. It’s her life, obviously, and she’ll do whatever is best for her, as well she should. I know she likes ‘GMA’ and she knows ‘GMA’ loves her.”

Love only goes so far when you’re 63 and have been trudging through the Dawn Patrol for more than a decade. As one of the most politically-savvy players in the game, however, Sawyer would never publicly show her hand.

When asked about the possibility of her possibly exiting ABC altogether, Murphy shifts into overdrive.

“She better re-up. She’s the best, the smartest, the hardest-working, the most talented anchor in the business. I and everyone else here want her to stay.”

Meanwhile, “GMA” pulled a musical coup last week by landing Bono’s U2 for its first-ever morning show performance, on March 6. The band’s new album is titled “No Line on the Horizon.”

How did No. 2 “GMA” land the get over NBC’s No. 1 “Today”?

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• Foxbusiness.com is back after it was down earlier this afternoon. Click here for the details.

• Al Jazeera is using Livestation to connect its viewers with its correspondents. Click here to see how.

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• Follow TVNewser’s (currently unhacked) Twitter feed

> Update: CNN has released this statement regarding the hacking incident:

Twitter accounts used by CNN’s Rick Sanchez and many others were recently compromised. As a result, some Twitter users may have received offensive messages attributed to Rick when the breach occurred. This is annoying, though such breaches are not uncommon when using social networking sites.

Rick has notified Twitter of his account’s breach and taken some basic steps to secure his account’s access. Rick enjoys communicating with viewers via Twitter and he and many others at CNN find social networking a valuable tool in their shows. Rick will continue to use Twitter — along with MySpace and Facebook — to engage CNN’s audience.

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The big get (and biggest album of the year) went to the big comeback of Britney Spears. But with the big get came some controversy — beginning with her first single “Womanizer” premiering on 20/20, the network was accused of acquiescing to the pop star’s demands for a no interview appearance and no close-up, lip-synced performance when she came to GMA earlier this month.

Also in the release — a glance at the top celebrity sit-downs for the program throughout the year.

Click continued to see the full release…

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“I believe by commenting on the perceived potential subtle racial messaging in the ad, you have taken what political scientists refer to as ‘the bait,’” said host Jon Stewart. “And when you have taken the bait, the media goes fishing.”

But besides the “race card,” what else has been in the media’s deck?

Click continued to see the full segment, complete with an appearance by the race genie, since, “now that it’s been raised, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle”…

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