(l-r) ABC News SVP James Goldston, Josh Elliott, Robin Roberts, ABC News president Ben Sherwood, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer, GMA EP Tom Cibrowski

More than 200 ABC News staffers packed the 5th floor newsroom this morning for a toast and celebration of “Good Morning America” breaking the “Today” show’s winning streak that lasted 16 years and 16 weeks.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood, who was executive producer of the show when it came within striking distance in 2005, gave two toasts: first to his colleagues at NBC, acknowledging the streak, and a second to his team and all those who came before, including former longtime executives David Westin, Jim Murphy, Phyllis McGrady and Shelley Ross, who was EP of the show for more than five years, beginning in 1999.

One longtime ABCNewser emailed, “The energy in the building is electric.” Sherwood, who first joined ABC News in 1989 talked about how before the streak, “We’d win a week, they’d win a week, then we’d win.” The back-and-forth ended on Dec. 11, 1995 when “Today” began its until-now unbroken 852-week winning streak. Sherwood himself jumped to NBC News in 1997 working on “Nightly News” before returning to ABC to oversee “GMA” in 2004. Sherwood talked about how many of the the show’s current staffers were in junior high or high school in 1995. News anchor Josh Elliott had just graduated from college.

Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo, former anchors on the show were in attendance while the current team of Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer and Elliott said a few words.

James Goldston who oversees the show as SVP, as well as Senior EP Tom Cibrowski also spoke. There was a lot of hugging, an insider tells us.

More pictures after the jump…

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ABC News has made it official, elevating “Good Morning America” senior EP James Goldston to senior VP for content and development, and naming “GMA” EP Tom Cibrowski senior EP of the program. Word of the shifts were first reported early last month by B&C.

In his new role Goldston will oversee all ABC News programs, as well as its EPs. He will also develop new programs for the network.

Goldston has steadily risen through the ranks at ABC since joining the network in 2004. Goldston, a former producer for ITV, is credited with breathing new life into the late night news program “Nightline,” and was rewarded with expanded oversight of other ABC News programming, including “This Week,” before adding “GMA” to his résumé.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood‘s note to staff, after the jump.

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• Broadcasting & Cable reports ABC News is considering elevating “Good Morning America” senior executive producer James Goldston to “a more wide-ranging role.” The personnel change has no immediate timeline, according to B&C, but sources expect “GMA” EP Tom Cibrowski to take over for Goldston.
• FBN’s Liz Claman says she got to the anchor desk by demanding it (as the Fox Business mantra goes). “I was getting passed up to be an anchor,” Claman tells Boston.com, “and one day I stormed into my boss’ office, and I made a case to him that I should be an anchor.”
• With the help of Deepak Chopra, Dylan Ratigan has turned over a new leaf, the MSNBC host tells The Hill. “I was the angriest man in cable up to about a year ago,” Ratigan says. “I’ve long since moved to a much happier lifestyle.”

ABC’s “Good Morning America” is adding a new senior producer to its ranks, just days after announcing a new newsreader.

Ethan Nelson is joining “GMA” as senior broadcast producer. Nelson joins “GMA” following the announcement that ESPN’s Josh Elliot and “The Insider”‘s Lara Spencer would be joining the program as newsreader and lifestyle anchor, respectively. The moves come after James Goldston assumed senior EP duties on the program in February. Tom Cibrowski is still EP of “GMA.”

Nelson had been a producer for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” where he worked closely with the former “Today” and “Early Show” anchor.

First on TVNewser: James Goldston, who is currently Executive Producer of ABC’s “Nightline” and oversees “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” is moving to the morning shift as the new Senior EP of “Good Morning America,” TVNewser has learned. Tom Cibrowski remains as EP of the show.

Goldston has been with ABC since 2004 and took over “Nightline” in 2005 when Ted Koppel departed the late night news show he’d anchored since 1980.

Jeanmarie Condon, who is currently a senior producer on “Nightline” is being bumped up to EP of the show.

Condon has been with ABC since 1990 working on documentary and magazine shows, and later on “Peter Jennings Reporting.” She’s been with “Nightline” since 2005.

Developing…

Confirmed: The changes are effective immediately. Current GMA Senior EP Murphy is in Los Angeles overseeing GMA’s pre- and post-Oscars coverage. No word on whether Goldston retains “This Week” duties. He will oversee GMA Saturday.

More: Sherwood’s note after the jump…

Update: “This Week” remains under guidance of Goldston and Condon until Sherwood finds a new EP.

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“Good Morning America” executive producer Tom Cibrowski and his wife Julie are now the proud parents of a baby boy.

Thomas Wallace Cibrowski Jr.(pictured right) was born yesterday at 11:06 AM, and weighs 7 lbs, 8 oz. Tom Jr joins older sisters Suzie and Caroline as part of the Cibrowski… and “GMA” family.

It’s time for some College Basketball March Madness and while you’ve been asking your colleagues (or are being asked by your colleagues) to join a bracket pool, we’ve been asking your bosses (or your favorite show’s bosses) to join ours. In this, the second annual TVNewser Bracket Challenge, we’ve asked executive producers from all networks to submit their picks. We’ll be keeping tabs on the results as the rounds go by and will eventually crown a 2010 TVNewser Champion, or, as we are unofficially calling it, a 2010 “boss of all bosses.”

Here are this year’s entrants:

Amy Sohnen, “The O’Reilly Factor”
Betsy Fischer, “Meet the Press”
Bill Wolff, “The Rachel Maddow Show”
Bob Epstein, “NBC Nightly News”
Carin Pratt, “Face the Nation”
Chris Licht, “Morning Joe”
David Friedman, “The Early Show”
David Tabacoff, “The O’Reilly Factor”
Gary Schreier, Fox Business Network
Jon Banner, “ABC World News”
Kim Rosenberg, “FOX Report”
Matt Quayle, “Squawk Box,” “Squawk on the Street”
Alex Crippen, CNBC and CNBC.com
Michael Kane, CNN Money Unit
Ramona Schindelheim, CNBC Business Day
Regina Gilgan, “Mad Money”
Rome Hartman, “BBC World News America”
Sanford Cannold, “Power Lunch,” “Street Signs”
Stephanie Todd, “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell”
Tom Cibrowski, “Good Morning America”

And now, to get you in the mood:

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The Onion reports on the recent decision by the adorable “Good Morning America” team to “write and broadcast their very own television news show all by themselves.” ABC News president David Westin weighs in and “GMA” EP Tom Cibrowski says, “It was absolutely precious how they wanted to do a piece about the Haitian earthquake right before a segment on low-fat additions to ice cream sundaes.” (The Onion is a satirical newspaper, if you’re unaware.)

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

TVNewser hears Eric Sherling, executive producer of CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” is leaving CNN and will join ABC’s Good “Morning America”.

Sherling joined CNN in 2000, became executive producer of Wolf Blitzer Reports in 2002, then a supervising producer for “The Situation Room” when it launched in August 2005, before becoming EP in 2006.

In a note sent by GMA Senior EP Jim Murphy and obtained by TVNewser, Murphy writes that during this “time of transition” for the show, Sherling brings “an excellent track record and reputation.”

No word on a start date. Sherling will report to Murphy and to EP Tom Cibrowski.