It was a year ago this week that ABC’s “Good Morning America” learned it had unseated “Today” as the leading network morning show. While “GMA” has gone on to win most weeks since, the race is still tight. That’s why ABC News president Ben Sherwood tells his team to play like they’re still behind.

In a B&C cover story, Sherwood tells Andrea Morabito, “My message to them repeatedly is when you knock the champs down who’ve been champs for 16-17 years, they get back up and they throw even tougher punches.”

“GMA” Senior EP Tom Cibrowski doesn’t think the morning shifts are over yet. He’s spent most of his 10 years with the “GMA” in “Today’s” shadow: “I think if you spend a long time at No. 2, you build those genes, the DNA becomes part of your structure that you’ll never lose, you’ll never stop being scrappy, you’ll never stop looking at your show as coming from behind.”

As we told you yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter is out with its annual “35 Most Powerful People in Media” list. The honorees were feted at a “power-soaked New York party” at the Four Seasons restaurant Wednesday night.

From CBS News, chairman Jeff Fager was there, along with “CBS This Morning” co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer, “Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley and “Sunday Morning” correspondent Mo Rocca. CNN’s Piers Morgan was there, as was Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. The “Today” show’s Willie Geist and “Live!” co-hosts Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa attended, along with talk show hosts Wendy Williams and Katie Couric. And from ABC News, president Ben Sherwood, “The View” anchor Barbara Walters, senior VP for content and development James Goldston and “Good Morning America” anchors Lara Spencer and  George Stephanopoulos, who was with his wife, Ali Wentworth.

More pictures of the event in THR’s gallery.

NBC News special correspondent Chelsea Clinton was among the tvnewsers leading panels at today’s Women in the World conference. But it was her mother who got a thunderous applause and shouts of “2016!” when she took the stage at the fourth annual event. Hillary Clinton called women’s rights “a core imperative for every society.”

Clinton’s speech kicked off the day’s events, which featured an impressive roster of women from the television news industry: ABC’s Cynthia McFadden, Deborah Roberts and JuJu Chang and CBS’s Norah O’Donnell all moderated panel discussions on topics ranging from women in the tech industry to fostering female leaders.

Before moderating a spirited panel discussion about the epidemic of sexual abuse in India, McFadden (pictured above) talked with an Indian woman who was the victim of a rape. She sat with her back to the audience in order to conceal her identity. The woman, whose case is still pending in the Indian high court, described how she was raped by a male friend of hers four

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Anderson Cooper will receive the Vito Russo Award at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards, the New York Daily News reports. “Good Morning America” anchors Sam Champion, Lara Spencer and Josh Elliott will host the ceremony, which will be held on March 16 in New York.

The Vito Russo award, named for one of GLAAD’s founders, honors an openly gay media professional who has “made a significant difference in promoting equality.”

“By sharing his own experiences as a gay man, Anderson has reminded millions of Americans that LGBT people are part of their everyday lives and an integral part of our cultural fabric,” GLAAD president Herndon Graddick said in a statement. “He continues to raise the bar and set a new standard for journalists everywhere, and I’m proud to call him a friend.”

On the set of “Good Morning America” Wednesday, Robin Roberts took her seat at the anchor desk, adorned with a huge red bow, for the first time in 173 days with nervous anticipation.

“It felt good, to have butterflies after all this time. After doing the first block — like butter,” Roberts joked with TVNewser after the show. “It felt so right. I felt at ease.”

Today’s show marked the continuation of a return to a full workload for Roberts, who will be on the air a few days a week at first as she gets stronger. She is finished with her treatments, a result of a bone marrow transplant five months ago, though still under the watchful eye of doctors and nurses. The primary health concern now is her weakened immune system, which dictates behavior on the set: stashes of hand sanitizer tucked throughout the studio, elbow bumps instead of hugs for her co-workers.

It is the beginning of a new chapter for Roberts, who pushed to be strong enough to return before the Oscars. It was at that event last year — on February 26, 2012 –  that she began to feel sick, a feeling she described as “bone-weary fatigue.”

“From talking to my doctors, they said it would be a tremendous boost to know in a year’s time that I was back there and on the road to recovery,” Roberts says. “Well on the road to recovery.”

Roberts’ mix of excitement and nerves for Wednesday’s show was echoed by her co-hosts. Lara Spencer said she felt like it was Christmas morning. Josh Elliott said he and Roberts spent an hour on the phone last night to “marinate in our mutual insomnia.”

“I didn’t know what it was going to feel like. It came much quicker than all of us expected,” George Stephanopoulos said. “She knocked on my door a little after quarter to five this morning and just said, ‘you got my back today, right?’ and I said, ‘I got your back every day.’ And I could tell she was just set and ready to go.”

It was a happy change for the “GMA” team, who have been in a fluid state since Roberts — the show’s “team captain”– went on medical leave in September.

For the five months that she was off the air, ABC News president Ben Sherwood noted there was “no master plan,” but said the network’s approach to Roberts’ illness was influenced by the memory of Peter Jennings‘ battle with lung cancer.

“Peter went on the air one night and with a very hoarse voice announced that he was facing lung cancer and he would be back. And Peter never anchored another show,” said Sherwood, who was an ABC producer at the time. “We brought a lot of those lessons from that time — which was a really dark, tough time at ABC News — we brought a lot of those lessons to thinking about how we wanted to handle and approach [this].”

Sherwood was adamant that the show’s approach to covering the illness was dictated not by the competitive ratings battle with NBC’s “Today,” but by Roberts’ feeling that “her mess is her message.”

“This is not some television ploy. This is a real person having a real life experience, and we have tried to resonate as authentically with her, and with the show and the team and the audience, as

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This morning Robin Roberts returned to “Good Morning America.” Merrill is at GMA’s Times Square Studio so look for more from her later today.

“Hey, it’s Robin, and I have been waiting for 174 days to say this: Good Morning America,” Roberts said, flanked by George Stephanopoulos, Lara Spencer, Sam Champion and Josh Elliott.

Watch the video here.

In addition, President Obama and Michelle Obama sent in a special message for Roberts (watch here). Roberts will sit down with Michelle Obama with the interview airing Tuesday. The First lady is making the TV rounds to promote her “Let’s Move” initiative. She is also slated to appear on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “Rachael Ray.” At the end of the show, Sam Champion thanked all the well-wishers including the competition: “We want to say thank you to our friends at the “Today” show, for sending a basket. And also, a donation to Be the Match.

Remember last month, when the anchors on NBC’s “Today” met their real-life lookalikes? Apparently it was such a good idea that now ABC’s “Good Morning America” is planning the same bit.

A post and video on GoodMorningAmerica.com says the show is seeking doppelgangers for Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Josh Elliott, Sam Champion and Lara Spencer.

It truly is a golden age for celebrity lookalikes. “CBS This Morning,” the ball is in your court.

ABC “Good Morning America” weatherman Sam Champion and his partner Rubem Robierb were married today in New York City and Champion’s ABC News colleagues, including co-anchor Robin Roberts who is recovering from bone marrow transplant surgery, were there to show support. New York State Supreme Court Justice George J. Silver conducted the ceremony at Champion’s apartment. Roberts also played a part in the nuptials, reading a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Co-anchors Lara Spencer and Josh Elliott also attended the intimate ceremony.

In addition to friends and family in attendance, Robierb’s mother and sisters were Skyped in from Brazil to be a part of the special day.

(Photo: Ida Mae Astute/ABC News)

CNN’s Candy Crowley and ABC’s Martha Raddatz were the female moderators of this year’s Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, landing the pair on The Hollywood Reporter’s annual year-end “Rule Breakers” list. Crowley and Raddatz reflect on the experience:

Crowley, 63, maintains she didn’t think too much about breaking the decades-long dry spell, but when the letters from women — young and old — came pouring in, “It hit me,” she says. “The optics matter.” And when in pre-debate interviews on CNN and elsewhere Crowley said she would attempt to get the candidates off of their talking points by pressing them with follow-up questions, both campaigns privately protested — a move criticized as defensive and vaguely sexist.

So would the women subject themselves to the debate ringer again? “In a heartbeat,” says Crowley. Raddatz agrees. “You walk off the stage, and you say, ‘Oh, thank God it’s over.’ And then you think, ‘That was fun.’ I used to say about summer in Iraq [where she has traveled 21 times]: ‘It’s so horrible; I’m never going back in the summer.’ And then you forget, and you go back.”

Also on the list: NBC’s Bob Costas and Jim Bell, who helmed NBC’s coverage of the 2012 Olympics, and ABC’s “Good Morning America” team, who overtook “Today” to become the top morning show in 2012. The list was a topic of conversation on “GMA” this morning, with Lara Spencer calling the show “the bad boys of morning TV.”

Coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, will continue into Sunday on the broadcast and cable networks.

On CNN, Candy Crowley will anchor “State of the Union” from Newtown. Don Lemon, Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper will anchor from Newtown Sunday, and the network will air a weekday primetime schedule. Fox News will again have an expanded edition of “Fox & Friends” beginning at 6amET Sunday, and MSNBC will have live programming until 6pmET. HLN will cover the shooting beginning at 7amET and going through 1pmET.

On the broadcast networks, the shooting will be the main topic of the Sunday public affairs shows. Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” CBS’ “Face the Nation” and ABC’s “This Week.”

On CBS, Jeff Glor will anchor “CBS Evening News” from Newtown. “CBS Sunday Morning” will also feature three segments on the shooting.

ABC’s Dan Harris, Amy Robach, and Lara Spencer will anchor “Good Morning America” from Newtown. David Muir will also anchor “World News” from the location of the shooting.

We’ll continue to update this post as the networks set coverage plans.

>Update: The cable networks have added Sunday night programming to cover President Obama’s visit to Newtown:

Fox News will air a two-hour special anchored by Bret Baier at 6pmET. Baier will be joined by Molly Line and Mike Tobin from Newtown, as well as chief White House correspondent Ed Henry.

MSNBC will be live through 9pmET with coverage of Obama’s visit.

On CNN, Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett will anchor a three-hour special from Newtown beginning at 6pmET.

>More: ABC News will also broadcast a special report during Obama’s remarks at the vigil, anchored by George Stephanopoulos and Diane Sawyer.  Muir will contribute from Newtown. NBC News will also have a special report anchored by Lester Holt in Newtown.