In 1973, she began her broadcasting career working as a trainee at
(Channel 3) KCRA-TV in
Sacramento, California. Within two years she was the co-anchor of the daily noon television news program. She produced the noon news broadcast and hosted KCRA's television specials. That year, she joined
New York's
WABC-TV Eyewitness News, at which time her name was changed to avoid being called "Blunder". A year later, she became co-anchor on the weekend newscasts. Lunden joined
GMA in the fall of 1976 as a feature news/consumer reporter, and later became fill-in co-host when former co-host
Sandy Hill left to work on
ABC's coverage of the
1976 Winter Olympics. Her popularity led to her quick promotion to co-host with
David Hartman, the program's original host, in 1980. Later, she would spend the majority of her career hosting with ABC's
Charlie Gibson. She reported from 26 countries, covered four presidents, five Olympic Games, and two royal weddings. Her popularity on the
GMA program from the 1970s through the 1990s allowed her to interview
U.S. Presidents and
First Ladies Gerald and
Betty Ford,
Jimmy and
Rosalynn Carter,
Ronald and
Nancy Reagan,
George and
Barbara Bush,
Bill and
Hillary Clinton, and also
Texas Governor George W. Bush and
Laura Bush prior to his election as president in 2000. As the co-host of
GMA, Lunden traveled the world, covering historic events, such as the 50th anniversary of
VE Day (Victory in Europe) in 1995; the 50th anniversary of
D-Day; the
1984 and
1988 Winter Olympic Games in
Sarajevo and
Calgary, respectively; and the wedding of
Prince Charles and
Diana, Princess of Wales. She covered the administrations and inaugurations of three presidents —Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. She was one of only three American journalists to interview Prince Charles during his 1983 visit to the United States. Lunden was known for her willingness to take risks in her role as host. She climbed and rappelled
Alaska's famed
Mendenhall Glacier and bungee-jumped off a 143-foot bridge and paraglided off a 2,000-foot mountain during the program's highly rated trip to
New Zealand. She navigated the whitewater rapids of a Georgia river for a
GMA show in 1994. While reporting on the
TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996, Lunden spoke of her friendship with Jed Johnson who was a victim aboard the plane. She shared a photo of Johnson and his partner Alan Wanzenberg, and expressed her condolences. In 2021, Lunden took over as host of the public television program
Second Opinion. Lunden also hosts
Health Corner, a
Lifetime series sponsored by
Walgreens. She is currently the spokesperson for
A Place for Mom, a national senior care referral service. She is also a public speaker in breast cancer awareness advocacy. Lunden has guest-starred on episodes of
Murphy Brown,
Home Improvement and
All My Children. She also made
cameo appearances in the films
What About Bob?,
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home,
Conspiracy Theory and
Thank You for Smoking. ==Career timeline==