TVNewsJunkie15

She'll be a west coast anchor the same way Ann was going to be a Today anchor-at-large. And I doubt they'll go without a news anchor completely. They'll go without one only long for viewers to forget about her and avoid the risk of another dicey change in the line up.

Brian Stelter on Twitter said there will be no replacement for Natalie. they are getting rid of the News anchor position completely. That doesn't surprise me because she no longer does the news in the 7am Hour and sometimes she not in that hour at all! Matt and Savannah will now read headlines

It obvious to anyone who watches TODAY Show nowadays that they are phasing that out.

And I am pretty skeptical about her so called new West Coast anchor Job. That just a fancy title at the end of the day kind of like what they did with Ann Curry and they lied about Ann at the end of the day.

After she left Ann never appeared on TODAY Show (aside om the one day in London for like 5 Minutes) again.

There will be no replacement for Natalie on TODAY. they are getting rid of the News anchor role completely

So the story is she not leaving TODAY completely but will still be on the show as it West Coast anchor. How is that going to work?

NBC must really want to keep her with this deal. Apparently she been planning to move to California for some time.

But I can't say I didn't see something like this coming.. Her role in the 7am Hour has diminished greatly over the last year.

Natalie been named Host of Access Hollywood and West Coast anchor of TODAY. Memo from NBC inside the article:

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/natalie-morales-named-host-of-access-hollywood-west-coast-anchor-for-today/292844

Why couldn't Natalie do both? If this is true and Tamron replace Natalie I won't watch TODAY Show anymore. I hope it not but Natalie hasn't gotten the respect she deserve I feel like in last couple years.

Kelly Ripa has a good point. There need to be more respect in the workplace and consideration all around but they do work in two different part of the TV World

Gelman may have found out before the show that Michael decided to leave but no way did he just barely figure out that this was all being worked out.

They found out after the show on Tuesday not before

I really cannot believe how this has been blown out of proportion. This is how TV works, Michael probably couldn't say anything to Kelly about it so he didn't. Regardless, he gave her a 4 month advance notice that he was leaving the program. Common courtesy is simply a 2 weeks notice. There's no way that she didn't know that negotiations were on going because Gelman knew about this for months. The reality to me seems to be that Kelly is pissed because she didn't want this to happen and now it's too late so she's throwing a fit. Screw all the talk about it being some under the table deal, that's just what sounds good to the hungry tabloid media.

Gelman did not know for Months. He found out on Tuesday Morning after the show with Kelly

This has gotten a bit ugly. I do tihnk Disney could have handled it better.

Michael has a right to make a job change of course if he want. Kelly allowed to be mad if she want to be and same with Gelman. Disney has a right to negotiate contracts and make changes to shows but but as I understand that now how you do things in showbiz the way Disney went about things. as I understand even some top ABC executives had no idea about any of this until way recently.

I don't tihnk Kelly mad Michael leaving LIVE! but is mad now things was handled but she should show and be an adult. Michael should have told Gelman (I know they didn't have a good relationship but till) several months ago when talks started that he was thinking about waving LIVE! as Executive Producer Gelman had a right to know about any changes being made that effected his show form the get go. He should have been in the loop all along.

Kelly should have been told a couple weeks ago before she left for Spring Break. I tihnk part of her is mad because Michael said LIVE would always be his main home. But opinions can change

Apparently Kelly didn't show up to work today because she very Angry. But at who>

How about just be a adult and show up to work? If I recall Regis didn't tell her ahead of time that he was leaving but yet she showed up the next day.

There words that ABC could be planning a Third Hour of GMA and so Disney would cut LIVE! a few years short and kelly Contract expired in 2020 and so she was probably only yesterday told of this plan.

There is more to this story I feel

Before Willie, the real front runner was Lester Holt. He was already the host of Weekend Today and he had the "it factor" necessary to become a full time host. He is very likable, solid credentials, has chemistry with his co-anchors could transition well from hard news to entertainment. He was the viewers favorite on the Today show. Geist became had more tv time after Lester was promoted to full time Dateline host. Before Willie came, Lester Holt was the fill in and on the weekday show quite often, when he got the Dateline host position he slowly transitioned away from the Today show. David Gregory was on shaky ground cause of his MTP job and eventually was fired and Geist got the position by default.

I knew Lester was a front runner at one tie but for some reason I thought David Gregory wa for awhile? It seem like during Ann year (And maybe Meredith last year?) as co-anchor and Savannah First Year David was. But at one time there was talk that Gregory could take over for Matt.

Lester was a front runner at one time you are right about that. It was during the last few years that Katie Couric was the show and during Meredith time that Lester was front runner but over the last several years he came to be considered the front runner to replace Brian Williams on Nightly News more then being thought as Matt main successor. In fact during Savannah first year David Gregory filled in more then Lester.

David wasn't very good on MTP to be honest (although he better then Chuck I will say) but he was very good on TODAY Show I always thought.

I do agree Lester always did a good job when he filled in. He work great with Katie, Meredith and Ann.

TODAY Show won last week in both Total Viewers and Demo for first time since June 2012:

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/after-4-years-in-2nd-place-nbcs-today-show-retakes-the-morning-show-lead/289051

New Sunday TODAY Show with Willie to Launch on April 17th:

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/willie-geists-sunday-today-show-launches-april-17/289049

So Matt Lauer inadvertently gave out Savannah's email address. He thought that type of thing was public knowledge because he got emails from viewers and jokingly gave out here. I was a bit surprised that her (and other higher profile journalists) work related email didn't vary from the standard template of [email protected].

I got the feeling it was Savannah Private Non-work Email Address Matt accidentally gave out not her NBC Email Address which is public pretty much and is the Professional Email Address everyone who work at NBC has.

I sent Al a Email once several years ago (using the NBC one) and got a reply back.

Credibility for being a morning show host has gone down the drain. It does not mean much anymore to become a host of the morning show. They got Carson Daly who promoted music videos as his claim to fame and now he is reporting news about heads of state. Lauer has not been high standard either, compared to Bryant Gumbel he is a lightweight.

This has been the same discussion people were having back in 2013 when people assumed that Matt Lauer is not going renew his contract. There have constant back and forths on who can take his spot. People thought Willie Geist would be the logical choice but his wooden personality mighty not work. Today believes that bigger name might mean bigger ratings. Their main focus is go back to being a more infotainment show, their main focus is to compete with GMA. This was their main picks outside of NBC

 

Anderson Cooper- I doubt that he would want to be tied to those crazy hours and he is a staple at CNN and contributes to 60 Minutes.

Josh Elliot-- they pulled him from ABC with promises that he could do the Today show but all fell to the waste side

Don Lemon-- He would make sense and he has the personality to do the entertainment part of the show.

David Gregory--highly doubt NBC would want him back but was well liked by viewers anytime he would fill in.

Ryan Seacrest-- NBC showed interest and he is part of the NBC Universal family, and his contract with American Idol is going to expire . His name recognition makes him alluring for NBC.

Very Interesting. The only (In my opinion) real qualified person at NBC/MSNBC who can take over for Matt right now is Willie. David Gregory would have been a good choice at one time and for awhile there he was the forerunner to take over for Matt. He work very well with Ann Curry and Meredith Vieira. If NBC had only known what would happen 6 Months after they let Gregory go I tihnk they would have kept him in a Contract (sort of like what they did with Ann) longer.

Josh Elliott just left for CBS. It really too bad they could not have find anything for him to really to do. originally he was brought as a as a Correspondent for NBC Sports and was prepared to go to Rio for the Olympics (in fact one of his biggest dreams was to cover the Olympics and is why he went to NBC when he got the chance) and so until then he did Sports stuff then and now but was not getting any major Screen Time or Sports events and so he faded slowly.

At the time in April 2014 It was widely speculated that he was in the running to take over for Matt whenever he decided to leave. Over time he began to do Sports Stories for TODAY Show which by Late Summer 2014 then become about once a week. Then Jamie Horowitz became SVP and Josh began filling in for Natalie that September. Then in October Jamie hatched a plan to fire everyone on the show except for Matt and Hoda. He was gonna replace Savannah with Hoda and Natalie with Josh. He was going to add Samantha Ponder and Brooke Anderson to the show. he planned to replace Matt with Josh within 2 Years.

Horowitz in his short 2 1/2 Months (and he was not even set to begin officially until December!) caused a lot of problems, chaos, mayhem, drama, back fighting, infighting, feuds and resentment behind the scenes. He then began to leak false stories (And other Stories to of the impending plan) to the press and pitted Anchors and Producer against each other. As one person describe it: "He walk in and threw a bomb and blew up the place". The morale during that time was very low. He would throw Producers and Anchors under the bus when they were not around. It was a extremely toxic environment

He is responsible for the feuding between Natalie and Tamron.

Soon in November Savannah, Willie and Natalie all hearing about their possible demotion went to Matt (who a couple weeks earlier told Burke he was covered about Horowitz) voicing Concerns and about what he was planning. Matt then went to Deborah Turness who then (among a Anchor revolt) put the kibosh on the plan and fired Jamie Horowitz.

There went out the window the possibly of Josh taking over for Matt.

Not surprise about Erica. I predicted Willie would join Weekend TODAY Show last year when Brian was let go at Nightly News and Lester got that Job. Erica is just not strong enough to be lead anchor.

There is now a story out there that Matt is leaning towards not renewing his contract at the end of the year: http://www.showbiz411.com/2016/03/02/today-show-insiders-matt-lauer-likely-to-leave-when-contract-is-up-this-year

Just in time for the Inauguration don't you say? It perfect opportunity to introduce a New Team. Willie has been filling in for Matt in recent weeks more then Carson so i could be he will be hosting Weekend TODAY until January.

But then what happens after that with Weekend TODAY?

I caught a show with Paula moderating and actually enjoyed her in that role. But I agree, if Whoopi goes it's Joy's job to lose.

 

Also of note, Meredith will have more time on her hands come May and Elisabeth has more time as of two months ago, although I think both are under contract with their respective networks.

Meredith will be hosting the Rio Olympics in August and taking part in NBC coverage including contributing to TODAY Show so in May she will be preparing for The Olympics. Her talk show is canclled but she contracted with NBC News but I am not sure when that expires.

I wonder how much longer Robin will stick around at GMA? and who would be her replacement? I think she has another year or left. I could see her maybe leaving at the end of her contract but would not be surprise if she renewed her Contract. Prior to her MDS diagnostic she may have left in 2013 or 2017 however after her MDS battle I think that changed and could see her being there for several more years (at least 2020) .

I could see Amy replacing Robin when ever she leave eventually and I think they are grooming Amy for Anchor Chair. That would be my top pick. I know some are so arid they will choose Lara but at the end of the day I tihnk they would choose Amy over Lara when it comes down to it especially when it would be permanent.

To be fair I have only heard 2 or 3 people say they should get rid of George. But other then that I have never heard many complains about him. Someone on TVNewser said they should bring Josh back to GMA and have him replace George. but that not happening.

But majority of people say Lara the problem. The few times I have watch GMA over last few years dhe did get on my nerves a bit and I can see where people coming from.

ABC is probably a little nervous right now.

Some say they should replace is George many say Lara.

Yes my Uncle from Iowa and he and his family are far from being Hillbillies

Think you answered your own question... Probably research/focus groups told them showcasing Matt & Savannah together was a better start for the show.

Yes. Matt and Savannah work good together. The Chemistry seem to have gotten a lot better (not that it was ever bad) some Savannah back from Maternity Leave.

I have to say they especially make a great team when covering major breaking stories like Sandy Hook, Boston Marathon Bombing and Paris Attacks. I cringe at the thought of having to endure watching Matt and Ann anchor those major breaking news together.

Sam left the weather channel so he not at NBC anymore. He was on CBS This Morning about a month ago so it could be okay

Meredith Show may get ax next year. It to bad she won't ever come back to TODAY Show full time. That would be great but it won't happen.

I do like the current team but sometime I yearn for the old days with Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann. That was a Great Team

Had Meredith not left I think they would all still be together today.

Lester is out sick today so Brian will be anchoring NBC News Special a Report this afternoon.

But don't expect Brian to fill in on Nightly as he banned from appearing on broadcast

TODAY came within 185,000 Viewers of GMA in Total viewers Week of November 9-13th (The closest since 2012) and has now won over Two Months in age 25-45 Demo. That is very good news and hopefully they can can keep the momentum going into next year with the Summer Olympics. In 2014 they did not have momentum going into the Olympics.

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/morning-show-ratings-week-of-nov-9/277945