George Stephanopoulos Offered "Good Morning America" Job: Washington Post

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reports that George Stephanopoulos has been offered the job as co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America."

Kurtz reports that Stephanopoulos is in negotiations with the network to take over for Diane Sawyer, who will replace Charlie Gibson as "World News" anchor on December 21:

While the network's chief Washington correspondent has not yet accepted the job, he was in New York this week, as was Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group. The talks with Stephanopoulos have involved not just the level of multimillion-dollar compensation but the details of his duties if he replaces Diane Sawyer.

As the discussions have dragged on for weeks, Stephanopoulos has pushed for a role reshaped to spotlight his interest in politics and hard news rather than feature segments. The sources, who declined to be identified discussing internal personnel matters, cautioned that the negotiations are complicated and the two sides might fail to reach agreement.

Kurtz reports that Stephanopoulos wants to keep his job as host of the Sunday morning program "This Week" for as long as possible, but that network executives don't think he will ultimately be able to host both programs. "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran has been speculated on as a potential replacement host on that program.

The New York Post's Michael Starr reported earlier Thursday that "there's no deal in place, but insiders say Stephanopoulos is likely to take the job if a deal can be finalized."

Kurtz reports that "GMA" newsreader Chris Cuomo, who has also been in contention for the co-host job, remains an "alternative choice" if talks with Stephanopoulos break down, but that he ""is being courted by other networks" and will probably leave the show" if he is not named host.