NEWS

ABC’s "Good Morning America" to broadcast live from UNC-Chapel Hill

By KAREN MOON
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- ABC’s "Good Morning America," featuring anchors Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer, will broadcast its entire show from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday (April 29) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

ABC’s “Good Morning America” will broadcast its entire show from the Carolina campus next Monday (April 29) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The producers are hoping for plenty of participation in the live broadcast from Polk Place, so please plan to join fellow Tar Heels there by 6:45 a.m. Polk Place is the quadrangle between South Building and Wilson Library. Anchors Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer and weather anchor Tony Perkins will interact with the audience throughout the broadcast.

Carolina students, faculty and staff will make up the majority of the live audience, but the Chapel Hill community also is welcome to come. Because most campus parking lots are reserved for employees and students on weekdays beginning at 7:30 a.m., the Department of Public Safety suggests that anyone planning to drive to the broadcast should park in the Highway 54 visitors pay parking lot off Raleigh Road, in the Town of Chapel Hill municipal pay lots, or in the Manning (S11) lot off Skipper Bowles Drive by the Dean E. Smith Center. Parking in the Manning lot will be free and will not be enforced until 10 a.m. that morning. The free campus U-bus and RU-bus service the Manning lot beginning at 7:05 a.m.

The Carolina campus will be the first of five stops across the United States next week as part of a yearlong project called "50 States-One Nation-One Year," which is giving viewers of "Good Morning America" and other ABC news programs a look at real life in America. Other cities being featured next week are Stillwater, Minn., Houston, Napa Valley, Calif., and Boston.

Monday’s program will originate from UNC’s Polk Place, one of the historic quadrangles on north campus. Among current program plans are segments from the Rare Book Room in Wilson Library, which houses the university library’s world-renowned special collections, as well as live appearances in Polk Place and from the Pit, a popular student hangout, and the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower. Scheduled guests to date include the UNC cheerleading squad, the 2001 men’s soccer national championship team led by Coach Elmar Bolowich, school mascots and university choral groups.

"Next Monday represents an exciting opportunity to host a popular national program with Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson, two highly respected journalists," said Chancellor James Moeser. "I am pleased a national audience will see the beauty of Polk Place in the spring and meet part of the Carolina community. It’s fitting the rest of the nation will get an excellent glimpse of what makes this campus and its people so special."

Carolina students, faculty and staff will make up the majority of the live audience; Gibson, Sawyer, and weather anchor Tony Perkins will be interacting with them throughout the broadcast. The campus community is welcome to come and watch the live broadcast from Polk Place, the quadrangle located between South Building and Wilson Library, as well as the other north campus sites.

Besides the UNC segments, Monday’s program also is expected to feature stories on the North Carolina furniture industry, NASCAR families and additional pre-taped segments from Duke and N.C. State universities.

Monday’s program will be the fourth time "Good Morning America" has broadcast live from the Carolina campus. In 1988, the campus was the setting for a show on the issue of education in the presidential race between George Bush and Michael Dukakis. Former "Good Morning America" weather anchor Spencer Christian has visited Chapel Hill twice for live segments—first in 1995 as part of a program on North Carolina, the Research Triangle and "The New South" and again in 1998 for weather reports and a live feature with Mildred Council, "Mama Dip's," a popular Chapel Hill restaurant owner.

"Good Morning America," seen locally on WTVD each weekday from 7 to 9 a.m. in the Triangle, is the second-highest rated morning show.

For updates about Monday’s broadcast and opportunities for audience participation, see www.unc.edu/newsserv.

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"Good Morning America" contact: Lisa Finkel (212) 456-6190

News Services Contact: Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595