AFTER 10 YEARS, HARTMAN STILL SHINES IN ‘MORNING’

“A.M. America,” born on Jan 6., 1975, and co-hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards, was ABC’s first early-morning show. It went nowhere in the ratings race. Had it been a horse, it would have been arrested for loitering at the gate.

David Hartman, Hollywood actor by trade, happened to be in New York on business when “America” lay dying in the late summer of 1975, the victim of Nielsen muggings by NBC’s top-rated “Today Show” and the second-place “CBS Morning News.”

He called home to check for messages. He was told to call Robert Shanks, an ABC executive in New York. The call led to his debut as the host of “Good Morningn America” when it premiered on Nov. 3, 1975, succeeding “A.M. America.”

The tall, folksy Hartman said he never feared that he was booking passage on a morning-show version of the Titanic (Nancy Dussault was his first co-host, then Sandy Hill, and now it’s Joan Lunden, who succeeded Hill in 1980).

His confidence was justified. Such was underscored this week as the program spent part of its air time celebrating its 10th anniversary. Its stars and staff also were feted at a swell party Wednesday night at New York’s posh Tavern on the Green.

Produced by ABC Entertainment, “Good Morning America” has thrived, armed with its comfy living-room set, a bouncy demeanor and a fast-moving parade of interviews and features.

All but the living room are now a way of life on both “Today” and the “CBS Morning News,” which are produced by their networks’ news divisions and which once were rumored to be sedate and sedated, respectively.

Before signing on with “Good Morning America,” Hartman said, he made ABC brass solemnly promise not to excessively publicize the show at first, as it would take at least a year to know if the new two-hour weekday program would work.

“I said it would be a long, slow climb, a matter of viewers finding us,” explained Hartman, previously found by viewers in “The Bold Ones,” where he essayed a doctor, and then “Lucas Tanner,” where he starred as a teacher.

In 1982, so many viewers had found “Good Morning America” that it finally topped “Today” and stayed the ratings leader until early this year, when “Today” rebounded, thanks in part to extensive travel and more extensive publicity about these outings.

Now the race is neck and neck, nip and tuck, and even close, with the troubled “CBS Morning News” still deep in third and trying to regroup again. That show recently took aboard its fifth executive producer in seven years.

Hartman, who is said to earn in excess of $1 million annually, also is said to be strong-willed, even imperious, about having things done his way.

Asked about the latter, he prefaced his comments by noting that “Good Morning America” seems to be successful. “I am told the show makes $70 million (annually). . . . I understand we earn 5% of the gross and 17% of ABC-TV’s net” annual income, he said.

At the same time, he continued, he feels a strong responsibility for getting information on the air that viewers can use as they face life each morning.

“I was also plagued as a child, thanks to my parents, with the idea that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right, and that it’s more fun to do it right,” he said. “So if the charge is made that I’m imperious or demanding, I will say, ‘Yeah, I am.’

“But it’s in the interest of doing things right. What you don’t see and read about is that I am one of an army of staff (members) who share that feeling for the most part.”

Hartman was born 50 years ago in Pawtucket, R.I. He has an economics degree from Duke University, was an Air Force computer officer, can play a variety of woodwind instruments and once pondered baseball as a career before opting for emoting. He also has produced or written documentaries on babies, photojournalists and hi-tech, and recently won an Emmy for a “Good Morning America” segment he wrote on the Air Force’s new B-1 bomber.

Although he doesn’t call himself a journalist, he gets mildly frosted at critics who wonder where he, a mere ex-actor, gets off venturing into Serious Journalism, interviewing world figures just like Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather.

Hartman cited his varied background. He said it all comes into play in his interviewing, “which is why I love this job so much. Now, as far as who should and shouldn’t interview heads of state, let us say, why does somebody have to go to the Columbia (Graduate) School of Journalism just to interview a head of state?”

He was told that some think entertainers should entertain, journalists should investigate and report back, and the twain should never meet.

“My thinking is: That’s the institutional point of view,” he replied. “It’s also a kind of a defense mechanism, if you think about it. The fact is, most reporters never get to interview the heads of state, not even the top ones (reporters) in print.

“Now, I get to do it almost every day. I wonder if there might to some extent be just a tinge of jealousy.”

Hartman reckons that since joining “Good Morning America” he’s done at least 12,000 interviews with varied guests, heavy-duty and otherwise. By his calculations, perhaps 30% of those interviews involved the areas of national and international affairs, with the figure rising to 50% if one includes social issues.

“At what point,” he asked, “do we say this represents a certain amount of credential here?”

He was less cranky and downright philosophical about the tight ratings battle between his show and “Today.” When NBC’s dawn effort was dominant, he said, “my attitude . . . always was that this can’t go on very long for the simple reason that we are in such a competitive business that if one gang is ahead, the other can’t allow that to continue forever.”

By the same token, he said, he was surprised that “Good Morning America” stayed on top in the ratings as long as it did. But ABC brass didn’t start popping Tums and otherwise indicating high anxiety when “Today” began its Nielsen comeback this year, he said:

“I’ve told them for a couple of years, ‘Guys, this (“Good Morning America” dominance) is not going to last. We’re doing the best job we know how to do and will continue to do that, but don’t fall apart on us just because the other guys start becoming more competitive.’

“And they haven’t. They’ve been very good about it.”

Asserting that all three morning shows try to be helpful, try to be fair and “try to do some useful television programming,” Hartman said that the competition will continue to be brisk, not only between his show and “Today” but also the “CBS Morning News.”

It may be giving aid and comfort to the enemy, but someday, he predicted, even that sorely tried program “is going to be more competitive as well. It’s going to happen. It’s got to happen.”