TVNewsJunkie15

They might wait a while before naming a news anchor and do what they did in 2016 and 2018, where the co-anchors read the other quick news briefs. Perhaps they planned to name Shinelle for that role, but then, with her family emergency, they pushed it back, or maybe they are just waiting until she returns to decide (or announce) on that and the third hour. It is possible that Craig will stop appearing on the 3rd Hour once Shinelle returns. This has been the norm since 2004-2005, and I imagine they will continue. They should bring Amy Roach back to NBC as a News anchor and a role on Dateline. I know she was fired from ABC, but that had more to do with distraction and how it all played out. The network is owned by Disney, which emphasizes Family. Perhaps in the MeTOO era (I know it was not technically a MeTOO thing), it made her person non-grata on NBC and CBS, and NBC would probably get criticized for hypocrisy, but it would be a good career redemption.

I agree. He will never be allowed back on the show at any cost, which is sad, but it is all his doing, and he has himself to blame. Matt lives in the Hamptons full-time and has a new girlfriend (good luck to her). He has so much money that he doesn't need to work for the rest of his life. He occasionally attends social gatherings that other TODAY Shows and former hosts sometimes attend. The year before, he attended the wedding of a TODAY Show producer where T.J Holmes & Amy Robach (Two people who will never likely be allowed back at ABC so they can relate), Savannah, Hoda, Al, and Katie were also in attendance. To have been a fly on the wall at that party!

Tom Brokaw has been ill and battling cancer, and Meredith just lost her husband. As for Katie, she left the TODAY Show before Hoda became even the 4th-hour co-host in 2007. While they had been colleagues before that at NBC (she filled in for Ann occasionally), I'm not sure how much of a relationship they had. But do former co-anchors come back to bid and a departing one? I don't recall any making an appearance on Katie's last day. They probably don't have quite the budget they once had, then factoring in Ann and Matt's departures. Also, at the beginning of 2022, many COVID restrictions were still in place. Meredith was pretty lowkey.. Maybe not like Ann, but definitely compared to Katie.

Me too. He looks pretty healthy (more than ever) and could be there for a long time. I remember watching the show as early as the spring of 2010 and thinking that they were (or seemed to be) grooming Savannah for a future role. By the time Meredith announced her departure in 2011, I think it was pretty clear she was the next in line after Ann, even though Natalie Morales had been there since 2005 and in an official role since 2006 and had been the primary fill-in for Ann and for Meredith usually when Ann was not there (and Amy Robach on weekends TODAY being another fill in on the weekday show from around 2007) it seemed like they were putting their money on Savannah as the future as early as late 2010. They gave Ann the job simply because they felt they had to, as she had been a loyal employee for 14 years as the news anchor and had filled in countless times and so had earned her dues, being the main fill for Katie and Meredith also, how it may have looked if they passed Ann over again and to keep Ann happy for the moment anyway.

Ah, yes. You are right. I had forgotten about that, as I hadn't watched the show in a long time. He has guest-hosted on LIVE many times, so he is probably fine with a lot of it.

I wonder how much longer Al will be there. Savannah will likely be there for at least a few more years. I would not be surprised if she eventually moves to Nightly News when Lester retires. Or maybe she goes back to cable. That is where everyone wants to be, it seems or becomes an independent journalist or a news site like Yahoo.

I will say that Broadcast Morning Shows (and even Broadcast Network Evening News shows!) are going through a bit of a crisis. I know people will say they have gotten too fluff or diagonal, and there is truth to that. Still, I feel they have not learned to adapt to modern technology, 24/7 cable news, and social media, and I suppose they never will be able to unless they fix their content and become more unbiased in the news, even doing all that may not help much. CBS did that a decade ago, and while it dramatically improved, it did not help much. Its ratings reached a peak of 3.7 million but were still stuck in 3rd, and they flushed that all down the toilet after they fired Charlie and Norah and moved to the Evening News show. I suppose another issue I just thought of is that there are too many commercials too! The Big Network Morning Shows are becoming more irrelevant, and the Evening News shows don't seem far behind. They don't get the ratings they once did and make the money they used to, and so Networks really can't afford to pay big names to host them like they were once able to (unless that person is willing to do it for less money than their previous job) or give the ones already there a big raise unless they lay people off. These anchors are even taking pay cuts to prevent layoffs of lower-ranking staff members. We will likely hear about Lester, Savannah, George, Robin, and David taking pay cuts in the future. I imagine the Evening News shows will always be there until the end of time or television, but will the TODAY Show see its 100th anniversary or GMA?

Willie Geist would be a good replacement and was once considered a possible successor to Matt Lauer, but he's doing well with his Sunday show, which he enjoys and is unlikely to give up. Anderson Cooper is more focused on hard news and might be better suited for a cable morning show like CNN or CBS rather than the lighter fare of TODAY or GMA. It's possible he could grow into it, similar to how George Stephanopoulos transitioned to a morning show. Some people were surprised when George was announced as Diane Sawyer's replacement, seeing as he worked in the White House and was a hard news guy. At first, he seemed uncomfortable with some of the lighter fares of GMA (of course, it is way now), but over time, he became more comfortable with it and loosened up a bit, especially as Robin got sick. Bringing in Michael as the third news anchor might have been a way to balance out the lighter content with more serious news. Giving George a bit less fluff to deal with. When CBS decided to hire Charlie Rose to host its morning show, that was a deal breaker. There was no question that it would have to completely rebrand and remove 90% of the fluff, leaving most of the lighter stuff for Gayle King. Charlie is way stiffer than George and Anderson and even more of a serious news person.

They lucked out by going outside NBC and getting Meredith, but there was no guarantee that that would work, but it did that time! Although, the show was in first place back then and had more to lose.

The old format you speak of is somewhat dated now. They should dump the 4th Hour. If they want to keep Jenna, then elevate her to the third hour if they're going to keep her and if she still wants a full-time role. Savannah's profile has risen even more now as she is about to get her Third co-anchor and will have the top billing over the second one. Technically, Hoda was more senior as she had been on the TODAY Show since 2007. But soon, aside from Al, she will be the second longest person on the show in January.

I am not surprised that Hoda is leaving the show. She had left the Olympics several days before they finished. One of her daughters was recently, or a while back, seriously ill and in the hospital. I imagine she wants to spend more time with them, especially in the morning. Hoda said she just turned 60 and has two little girls. I imagined It would have been a different decision if she had been 40-50 and had no kids. It's good to hear she won't be leaving the network altogether, so we will probably see her on the show once in a while, perhaps even filling in the forms from time to time. About who will replace her: They will probably elevate Craig to co-anchor. They should bring Amy Robach back to NBC and make her the TODAY Show news anchor, along with a prime spot on Dateline. That would be a good redemption story. She left NBC all those years ago because her career was basically going nowhere. She was doing very well at ABC with the co-anchor job at 20/20 and would likely be Robin Roberts's successor on GMA at some point, but then she was fired. I don't see them permanently elevating Craig (to co-anchor) and Sheinelle (news anchor) in the 7-9 hours. Perhaps they have Sheinelle replace Hoda in the 4th hour. It would be cool if they brought Natalie back to be the news anchor with the Talk ending in December, but I doubt that will happen. She's pretty set in the California/Hollywood (not saying in a bad way) ways now, and I don't see her moving back to NYC at least any time soon. She also has a good correspondent Job at 48 Hours, which she seems to be enjoying, and once the Talk ends, she will probably focus more time on that and get a more significant role.

I was surprised to see Savannah in the studio this morning. I guessing she decided to come home for a couple days to see her kids (11 or 12 days a long time) and repack and get 'homework' Queen state funeral next wee. .

With Hoda and Savannah both testing for Coovid there will probably be no party or celebration this year. Even if they were there it likely was not gonna like in the past (40th, 50th, 50th) where all the former anchors and hosts show up, etc.,. There will probably bee a few clips montage I imagine but nothing major. They were all suppose to appear at The Paley Center this week on Thursday but I notice this morning the page has been taken down.

I thought World News was in 2nd?

I was kind of arise to hear this. after the controversy that led to his exit from Nightly in 2015, he had reinvented himself at MSNBC and form I heard one of the higher rated shows on MSNBC. I guess he was ready for a change. PBS is another possibility. Would Brian actually be willing to go to CBS and become the anchor of CBS Evening News? He would be going up against Nightly News. That would be like Tom Brokaw going to ABC to anchors Worlds News Tonight when Diane left. But I guess you never know, Ratings would improve quit a bit though, possibly even overtaking ABC. I doubt he leaving to go to CNN (obviously not Fox) unless they offered him insane amount of money money then MSNBC was offering. Otherwise why leave one Cable Primetime show for another? Or maybe ABC. that where everyone seem to be going.

I have been reading reading Katie Book and enjoying it so far. I suggest people ignore what has been written about it and read it for yourself. Context is important. People will read things as they want to sometimes and make assumptions. Not sure what Deborah beef is? Hopefully, she will read the copy for herself that Katie sent. Katie actually has nothing but kinds things to say about her and is even sympathetic about the whole transition and the way it was done and how Deborah was portrayed. Same with Ashleigh Banfield., Katie never criticize her. or says that she tried to sabotage her career. The only time Katie mentions her is something her father said (which was not bad at all). Of course he going to think no is as good his daughter. Katie does says sometimes she felt like had to protect her turf which is reasonable dafter seeing what happened with Jane and as she got odder. However, she never says (or hints) that she intentionally sabotage a career in order to keep her own. She never (that she wrote) ever acted cruel towards any them or mistreated them. Seems they going by what others are saying (as I said above) who are taking the words and turning into something it actually not. I sure Robin,, Savannah and Hoda are all protective of their jobs at time. Who wouldn't be especially in that business? I remember when Robin went on sick leave in 2012 when she has MDS ABC sent out a warning not jockey for her spot. That women who guest hosted were only filling it temporally

I agree. Katie Couric alluded to this the other night on the Late Show. Diane became World News Anchors 3 years later and did fine. Although it was in a solid 2nd place when she got there, it stayed there. But Diane also did not have the Perky label like Katie. DI would argue Katie is better then David. I owner if she has joined 10 years alter and went up against David if maybe she would have done better rating's wise? I Want to add that viewing habits are hard to change. And then there 24/7 Cable News (and Social Media), which has became more in recant years then ever. NBC and ABC ratings have dropped as well. Yes. The transition form Brokaw to Williams in 2004, (nd I might Couric to Vieira on TODAY in 2006 in which NBC went outside the network and took her away form ABC), was almost ridiculous because of how smooth sailing those transitions were. Those shows stayed in their first place spot. Very seamless. unfortunate some NBC more recent transients have gone over as well.

It interesting isn't it? They are number 1 in Daytime, Late Nights, Primetime Newsmagazines shows and Primetime in general. So why does it seem like they always struggle in Morning News (aside form CBS Sunday) and The Evening News? You know it must be driving them nits. Dan Rather was in 2nd place (I think?) in the 1990s. My first thought is Not enough stability since he left. There been 4 Co-anchors since he left 15 years ago. That a new anchor about every 3 years on average. My second though is problems or issues internally that maybe hasn't come to light.

I think she does better with the hard news stuff. It the lighter fare (unless of course she interviewing her idol Katie), where I think she struggles sometimes (especially cooking segments). This is where Hoda does a better job. I do think she has grown a bit more into the role since Matt left. About Katie book: Despite some of the negative attention it has gotten I do plan on reading it. I watching her interview last week on TODAY and was thinking that I would rather a person who writing about their life is honest and not peachy about everything and pretends they liked every person that ever met. Cause that not possible. I think we et too use sometimes to these "nice nice"" memoirs.. Context is also important nit just bits and pieces that is given to us

Interesting. in 2009 and 010, Ann Curry, Natalie Morales,, Savannah Guthrie, Amy Robach, Norah O'Donnell and Erin Burnett were al either seen as potential successors to Meredith on TODAY Show or were rising starts in the industry. Now Savannah has been TODAY Show Co-anchor for 9 years, Norah is now the anchor of CBS Evening News, Amy is the co-anchor or 20/20, Erin has a primetime show on CNN. Ann Curry is doing documentaries on PBS. . Natalie? Will she now on the talk.. A "View" wannabe copycat is way more gossipy and celerity oriented. What happened? well et be hoses here she has never really been seen as a hard news journalist. A lot of that is probably the fault of NBC. They never really treated her fairly or gave a lot of hard news assignment. She never fit on access Hollywood. The reason she ended up in L.A is because her husband got a job offer. Things were changing at NBC. So they decided to take it. In order to keep her at the network they gave her Access Hollywood and made her West Coast Correspondent. Kind of like Ann "senior correspond" role she didn't do a lot with it so probably a little more then Ann. You at least saw Natalie periodically on the show show whether in L.A or NYC. I don't think NBC really knew what to do with either nd with Ann thee was a lot of awkwardness after what transpired.

Certainly. Foreign reporters and journalists are mostly confined to their hotels and sets. Unless previous Olympics they really can’t go out and explore like they been able to in the past due to COVID. Savannah was in Tokyo fir 6 days before the opening ceremony. Seeing as she and Hods have young kids they probably didn’t want to be away for long.

Savannah, Honda and Al are back in New York

Well for starters: the entire American TV Viewing Audience has dropped as a whole. Morning Shows is not the only genre or day part that has seen it ratings drop. Sunday Shows, Evening News Shows, Daytime Shows, Late Night and even Primetime have seen ratings slip as a whole. There is of course a lot of options now then there were 10-15 years ago and different ways to watch to watch tv shows. With Morning Shows people can live stream on tablets, computers, phones, etc,. Without having to turn on the TV. People can now DVR and of course wait until full episodes of morning shows are posted online to watch them. Not including Sporting Events and major news events TODAY Show has not averaged 6.5 million viewers on daily basic in at least 20 years. 2.4 Million is not unusual for CBS although not to recently they were getting 3.6 million on a daily basic the best a CBS Morning Show had ever done. Morning Shows ratings always tend to drop in the summer and then recover some of it lost viewership in the fall. However I do think COVID is to blame for more recent lost viewership. I think people are “Covid-out” tbh. That and the Election has practically been the only thing these shows have covered over the last year be I know they were the two big new stories last year but for many weeks Covid was non stop. I think people got tired after awhile and had no interest in watching the host do the show from home and celebrities (far on between” doing virtual interviews also from home. Also the constant coverage on Trump and the 2020 Election (some of which might be bias depending on your viewed) has probably turned some off. People are Covid fatigued and Election fatigued. TODAY and GMA were averaging 3.9-4.5 (1980s average) million before Covid hit. When life finally get back to 2019 normalcy and covid is thing of the pass and the shows get back fully to normal I think they will recover some of their lost viewership. Of course it won’t be 2000s or early 2010s level. these shows have always lighter side however they gotten even more fluff over the last 15 years or so. Also the way the fluff is presented has changed. If that make sense

Because of the Pandemic.

Yes. Her last public appearance was in 2016. she is currently confined to to her apartment and allows almost no visitors except for close family. Very sad! Her family and manager had not made a public statement about it. Biggest dictator is that last year Sheri Sphered and Jenny McCarthy made comments last year suggesting she not doing well. A Big indicator of her deteriorating health was the death of Hugh Downs and Regis Philbin this year. She and Hugh had been friends and working partners for 50 years or so. She was also very good friends with Regis for decades. She did not make any kind of statement on either of their death and no statement was ever put out on her behalf about their death.