Robin Red

NBC is not happy with Al Roker's rant about Ryan Lochte. I can't stand Al Roker, he is obnoxious, I don't find him charming at all. He has gotten away with a lot of crap on the Today show. I watch him make fun of people and he calls it a joke. He should be replaced, he's been there too long. I ain't fan of Billy Bush but Al Roker's been a jerk to him when they were in Rio. Even the gossip sites are talking about Al Roker's behaviror. They should get a new weather person seriosuly cause I am sure most of America is tired of Roker as well as Lauer.

http://pagesix.com/2016/08/23/al-rokers-lochte-rant-causing-drama-at-today/

I've always been indifferent about Lauer, and I don't want to come across as defending him, but he's merely the tip of the iceberg. Just like a professional sports team with undisciplined troublemakers, there is clearly a systemic problem within the ranks of the Today show that allow for such behavior and idiocy. Like sports, the more an on-air talent makes or the higher their profile is, the more they're allowed to get away with. Throw in the fact that NBC (News) has a horrific track record with handling personnel management on and off the air (Brian, Ann, Matt, Natalie, David, and before that Bryant, Katie, Jane, Deborah...pretty much everyone but Meredith), and it's a recipe for disaster.

With the exception of Meredith, most of the on air talent that NBC has problems with are the ones with the big egos. Big egos make life difficult for bosses and the networks. Big egos are not humble and they think that since they have a name, they can run wild and do whatever they want to do. Matt Lauer used to come in 3 days a week, he believed he was too good to show up a full week but knowing he was getting a lot of money. Let's be honest, if Lester Holt took a couple of days off from work, his co-workers on air would haze him for it. I remember when he showed up for work late on Weekend Today, his co-anchor hazed him throughout the show. Though they try to joke it off there is much hypocrisy at that network one standard for one guy and a different standard for another, that is bad work place culture. If you look at the local networks most of long time anchors are now doing longer on air hours. Most of them would 5,6, and 10 pm hours now.

I might add... Neither Bryant, nor Jane, nor Deborah or Katie EVER let any of that silly/stupid stuff happen when they were hosting. when she filled in once for Bryant, Faith Daniels(the newsreader) had that same attitude as Bryant or Deborah or Katie: she never let any of that stupid stuff get in the way of the interviews or reporting the news. In fact i think Arthur Kent was co-hosting that week, he had that kind of attitude too. Hugh Downs or Frank McGee, back in the day had that same kind of attitude towards the show. On GMA, David Hartman was doing the same thing and he didn't tolerate it either! I wish that ABC would tell them not to do that on GMA.

It is a different culture today, Roker and Lauer have ran that program into a deliquent low rated show. The only person post Curry on the Today show worth watching was Lester Holt he had class. The weekend Today show was great when he was there and he is a big leaguer now. I think Lester is enjoying his new job then having to do those teenage antics in the morning. I have a feeling that Natalie Morales probably enjoys her new job now that she has left Today show.

I've been saying this for years about Matt. Both Katie and Meredith carried Matt making him think it's all him. When Ann came in, he was on his on and instead of putting blame on both of them, they singled Ann out. Yes she wasn't the best but the way the situation played out it hasn't quite gotten back to where it once was.

Katie and Meredith were more popular then Matt, he has always been a person who rode on the success of people. Matt Lauer wanted chemistry but Ann wanted substance.Ann Curry was a successful journalist but what was never said was that she wanted to focus on hard news while Matt Lauer wanted to focus on cottonball stories. That lead to their creative differences .

I agree with the bolded part so much it hurts. Lauer and co. have literally made fools of themselves by proclaiming Lotche to be innocent after an interview. Not even sure why I'm so shocked at the lack of journalistic integrity from Matt, he's never been an actual journalist/reporter. Just a damn good TV personality who has managed to work his charm up to NBC.

It's cause they did not want their Olympics to look bad by beliving that Lochte was not lying and NBC/Comast has a stake with Lochte. They were the ones that helped him in launching his own reality show on E! So him lying about this hurts NBC's PR cause technically he is extended member of the Comcast/NBC brand.

Most of these desk job hacks on NBC lost their intergrity for the sake of television, being a personality and sucking up to tv bosses. Remember when Hoda Kotb used to be a journalist. Lauer is no exception and he was never in Gumbel's level he is psuedo journalist who rode on Gumbel's success. He was a journeyman host who got his big break on NBC by having a good agent, with a little rise in ratings he believed in his hype but in reality it was Katie Couric and Meredith Viera who made Matt more appealing then he was. I've never seen Lauer do any real indepth journalistic reporting since he has been the top anchor. All of his work has been fluffy pillow segments and scripted questions.

Now that's true comedy.

Olbermann did not lie to people, he was fired for giving money to Democratic candidiates.

On yesterday's or Wednesday's episode of Today, I really didn't like how Matt was so quick to call Ari Melber wrong after his live report back in NY with Savanah. Ari's point was that comparing both accounts of Lochte's story, the one with Bush then with Lauer, left so much to wonder b/c of many discrepancies. However, Matt was quick to say not much changed, Ari was reaching too much. Now that this has blown into a bigger issue, I wonder how Matt feels.

Well now he is trying to take control of the Lochte situation by keeping Billy Bush out and trying to assert his dominance by discouting Ari's analysis. The real issue is Lochte lied to NBC News and made a fool of them. I saw him with Bob Costas during the Olympics primetime and he did the worse thing that any "journalist" would do and that is internalize the situation by saying he believes Lochte would not lie about this. Any good journalist would remain skeptical about this until the case has been settled with law enforcement.

Roker has always been a jerk, only now people are seeing it in front of the camera instead of behind it.

 

Don't forget, Gumbel also left because CBS gave him a primetime newsmagazine, Public Eye, which lasted only one season. Then with nothing really to do, they were able to cajole him into another morning show reboot.

You are right but Roker looks more like a senile bitter man. They need to get Dylan Dreyer to replace him. People like her more anyway, Roker has worn out his welcome on that show. The Olympic Today coverage has been terrible and unprofessional, the anchors are to self centered. It seems like they care more about their antics then promoting the athletes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3748912/Today-host-Matt-Lauer-accused-burning-colleague-Billy-Bush-swooping-Ryan-Lochte-robbery-exclusive.html

More drama from the Today show.

I prefer Bryant Gumble as host then Matt Lauer even though Gumble was a douche he was an intelligent douche. Gumble would not let Al Roker get away with his antics and Gumble would keep the interview focused on the interviewer instead of the host or his co-anchors. Gumble should return and guest co-host, sure he was arrogant but he knew what he was doing. From the way, the reports have been circulating around the Today show it seems like Matt Lauer has turned that show into high school drama club.

I've always wondered around the time that Deborah Norville was on Today, that Bryant Gumbel, her co-host , was also anchoring NBC's golf coverage(and i think that was what he was doing in addition to his duites as Today co-host) Did NBC ever consider getting rid of him and putting him on golf(instead of bringing in Charlie Jones on golf) and having Norville as lead anchor? that would have hurt them in the long run.

Bryant Gumbel had his own HBO sports show and he wanted to devote a lot of time to it. He left by his own accord, I don't believe he was forced out. He did eventually go to Early show and that did not work out.

*Al Roker is acting like a prissy jerk on the Today show, I wonder if he has been drinking a lot. Word on the street is that Today show people go crazy during Olympics time and party.

It's like a high school click and he is the new kid. They will do all kinds of stuff to haze him and see if he is "worthy" of the Today Show.

You should never see this manifested on the air, and if the average viewer picks-up on it the the drama, then the chance of total failure is greater.

 

Total Childish behavior, but it happens in just about every show/newsroom in America.

 

Name the people "they" have hazed....

Ann Curry...

Deb Norville...

 

Feel free to add names if you wish.

Jane Pauley was also hazed, that probably lead to her becoming bipolar. I am sure there are more people but those were the ones that was publicize. It is ashame that grown adults mistreat each other in "professional" workplace. They could to most civil thing, pull them aside and help them develop. I heard that morning shows are the worse though. A glam job that most people want and that would mean more sharks willing to turn on each other and on air talent wanting to hold on to their pork chop.

http://pagesix.com/2016/08/15/billy-bush-plagued-by-mean-girls-mentality-at-today/

Apparently there is no love between Billy Bush and the rest of the Today show crew. Watching a little bit of Today show, Al Roker has been acting like a jerk on camera. I can so believe this, with Billy Bush coming to the Today show. I wonder if he is having regrets joining the Today show cast, or are the people on the Today show threatned by the changes of the Today show. He is a gossip guy and the Today show has been going on the more gossip venue for years.

MSNBC is reportedly going to give Brian Williams a half-hour show at 11pm through Election Day.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/15/media/brian-williams-msnbc-time-slot/index.html

 

They seem to be testing the waters by having him host late in the evening, following the primetime lineup. Could this be a precursor to him becoming a daily program? We'll see...

They are still trying to do the redemption story with him. He is damaged beyond belief, anything that he says becomes a meme. Why can't they bring back Keith Olbermann, he is needed especially with this heavy election cycle.

She would more than likely tape the shows during the week like Sam Champion did for his Saturday morning kids show on ABC. Also Jenna Bush Hager also has a Saturday morning show as well.

Nepotism in it's finest scale.

Apparently Dylan Dryer will have her own show during the weekends. I don't know if it means Weekend Today will be canceled or it will be programming after the Today show. Give her credit for finding a way to stretch her limiting profession, she seems like a nice person but never saw her as having a hosting presence. It is good though to see her given an opportunity to advance, to her credit she is a legit meterologist unlike Al Roker, so it is good to see legit weather people advance in their careers.

http://www.litton.tv/in-the-news-1/2016/8/9/nbc-and-litton-entertainment-announce-fall-2016-line-up-for-the-more-you-know-programming-block

I guess you do have a point there, when you look at the figures Today hasn't improved much GMA has just shredded so many viewers. Everyone seems to be headed to CBS.

CBS and also other outlets probably NPR, Morning Joe, CNN New Day etc.

I was under the impression that Today is actually growing stronger and posing a real threat to GMA for the first time in 4 or 5 years. I doubt Matt is behind any ploy to get rid of anyone because the last time he did that it backfired on him and ruined his brand severely. I don't think Savannah is being removed I was just saying that she should be, I find her terrible.

That is window dressing, it seems that way cause of GMA's slow down but in reality the real strong runner has been CBS This Morning putting a dent on GMA and Today show ratings. Half of the GMA and Today show audience has left and moved on to CBS and other programs. Today show is relying on an olympics boost but interally the program has lost it's zest.

To be fair the guy that was hired wanted to blow up the entire show and get rid of most of the people except for Lauer and Hoda. Matt reportedly caught wind, stood up for his co anchors and helped get the guy fired (who also clashed with other staff and did a 180° from his pitch to the network).

 

As for the infotainment issue their first hour seems to be much more newsy where they have been focusing on one big story for ten minutes and about the same on a second/third one that usually is related. I've noticed they don't really go to break until atleast 19 past the hour.

 

As for Hoda appearing on Trending I think she's been there when they need an additional view from a woman's perspective or when ones out. She does a great job and if Savannah left would be a could fit.

I can't put anything past Matt not after the stories that came about him including how he treated Ann Curry. He can be your best friend this day and be your worse enemy the next day.Fast forward to 2016, they are depending on Olympics and election to give them ratings bounce.

Wait until the election is over they do about first half hour of hard news which they have to do in any format including GMA. It is not until the second half hour they focus more on the light stuff.

Hoda might be groomed to take the chair once Savannah is on maternity leave. Natalie is at the west coast, all they have is Tamron, Shenielle and Hoda Kotb.

Hoda Kotb is expected to take on a major roles for the Today show coverage of the olympics games for the next 3 weeks, since Savannah is Manhattan Bound (due to Zika concerns) .

 

She will be co hosting with Matt Lauer on the Main Show and will anchor the opening Ceremony alongside Matt and Meredith .

 

Does anyone possible think she could join Matt and Savannah premantaly in the Fall or take on a large role with the Today show franchise ? She has been making a lot of aprrenace durning the 8 o'clock hour the past 2 weeks, because of the Today's convention coverage.

 

She also has been making random appearances in the 8'o clock hour to disuse, What's Trending Today.

 

Since a avoid is going to be left with Natalie gone (and no reports to replace her/ add a new news anchor) do you think Today might add her as an anchor on 7-9 team???

 

I personally think she would be AMAZING with Matt and Savannah they seem to gel well together.

Dump Savannah and replace her with Hoda who I thought should have been news anchor after Ann and then given Ann's spot but I digress. Hoda is good and she works well with really just about anyone. For what it's worth I don't see the phasing out of the news reader role as something permanent but we'll see.

There is some rumor floating that one of lead male anchors is thinking about replacing his female co-anchor it got inflammed after Natalie moved to Access Hollywood with rumors about the affair. Natalie Morales was moved to the West Coast and Savannah might be next in the list. Reason being is that he has control on who stays and goes by persuading producers and upper management . Savannah was on the endangered list back in 2014 when a former producer wanted to fire her.The ratings have been shrinking and I am sure that once the Olympics and election is over they would want to do some changes. When your ratings are low, you got nothing to lose in an ensemble cast. Since Savannah got pregnant it probably got him on his mad side cause it is rumored that his contract may end after the election. You can't fire a pregnant woman so Savannah is on the cozy chair for a while . Billy Bush coming to the Today show may open a void for him getting the main chair if Matt's contract is not renewed. Today has been wanting to go to more infotainment venue for the last couple of years, they hired Carson Daly as the first wave, focused more trending topics and getting Billy Bush might be the cherry on top to do the change. Hoda Kotb proves important cause she easily transition between hard news and soft news. Hoda also knows how how work with about anyone. Matt Lauer may leverage NBC like he did with Ann Curry, either you keep me and for that he will get rid of another female anchor. Will it work it has been four years since her ouster and Today show ratings have been declining more then increasing.

Since the ratings have been shrinking, NBC should cut Lauer's salary down cause all the male anchors on the show can do his job. If Billy Bush passes the trial run on Today show then he might be the one NBC wants to replace Lauer. Bush has more name recognition then Willie Geist, he knows how streamling the fluff better. Geist is okay but overrated to the max cause he does not have charm or personality, he is much better off staying on Morning Joe and doing the Sunday show.

Do we know who will be taking over the 1pm when Craig takes over 10am from Jose? Also after the election do you think MSNBC will actually bring back a logo for MSNBC Live?

I believe Thomas Roberts does the 1pm slot then Kate Snow takes over at 3pm. I get the feeling that one of those female political reporters will be promoted to either White House Correspondent or host after the election.

What do you guys think?

I know I'll come across as being biased but those are his brothers. Jose has proven in past interviews he can equally go after republicans as much as democrats (I'm inclined to believe he's leftward leaning). It's not like he's the wife of NBC's Political Director Chuck Todd who is a communications consult and is the co founder of a marketing company that caters towards democratic candidates. Or is the husband of Savannah Guthrie who was the traveling chief of staff for the Gore Campaign in 2000. All the aforementioned examples in my view aren't as bad as George Stephanopoulos who is the chief anchor / political correspondent at ABC who worked as the White House Communications Director and Senior advisor for policy and strategy under Bill Clinton. The previous three examples show that there may be some perceived bias given their spouses professions but none come close to actually being the chief anchor who WORKED for the White House in a senior level position.

 

I'm sure there are examples of republicans in the media who have family members that are active in the Republican Party but as I'm a democrat I don't pay attention to them.

I am sure he is a decent guy and can keep his politics aside and do his job but becoming a network evening news anchor has higher standards then other mainstream anchor jobs. Evening news is the mirror and representation of the network and generally the best and most intergral journalist of that network anchors the evening news. Even when George S. was aiming for the evening news job, ABC had to be careful cause his ties to Clintons could damage their brand. A lot of viewers were concerned when Diane Sawyer got the evening news gig cause she used to be a political staffer to President Nixon. Doing a fluff job like GMA won't be as damaging as doing a legit evening news job where people still rely on evening news anchors to be truthful and free from conflicts of interest. Even though I seem to be overexaggerating, I am not cause after what happened with Brian Williams fiasco, a lot of viewers still care who hosts their evening news. Hopefully Jose won't go down that path but also think that in reality he is more a floater anchor then a legit prospect. When Lester was the weekend anchor, you could tell that he was the heir apparent and the second in command of Nightly News. I think right now Lester is the Admiral, Kate Snow as the second in command and Jose as the Ensign.

Jose Diaz Balart is okay but I am worried about his political conflicts of interest. He comes from a political family and he is getting a top anchor job on Nightly News, bad optics especailly trying to cross mainstream viewers. Should've gave the job to a veteran like Peter Alexander or continue to rotation, there was nothing wrong with the rotation. I am a firm believer that jobs for "neutral" evening news program should not be given that easily. Hey it is one day a week and I figure that since he is 50 something years old, he won't be considered a real prospect for NBC long term more like a floater.

There never been rumors about Matt and Savannah having a affair. There been rumors of Matt having affair with Amy Robach and Natalie Morales (And Meredith Vieira) but they are definitely all false but that not to say Matt never had a affair outside of work.. Although there are high rankings NBC Executives who do bivalve that Matt and Natalie did at one time have an affair(From the Morning Show Book) but I do not believe it.

 

Allegedly Savannah met her First Husband Mark Orchard while he was still married to someone else and he Divorced his First wife to marry Savannah.

There have been numerous rumors about Lauer having affairs, I do think he has had affairs but I don't know if they are with his co-anchors. His affair with Natlie does seem suspicious cause people thought that she was going to get the anchor position on Today but her affair with him ruined any chances of her growing in the network.

Though my respect for Matt is virtually nonexistent these days and I do hold him responsible for Ann's shitty exit -- this affair story just seems so ridiculous and I'm taking it with a grain of salt. I mean these rumors date back to what 2006? Nothing has ever materialized out of it so I doubt it's legitimacy.

I think these rumors exist cause apparently Lauer has made enemies with people in the business. He is a fake nice guy according to people who have worked with him and now that ratings are down and Today show brand still hurting from Curry's exit. He is getting paid $25 million dollars and no doubt there are some people who want to see him leave Today show. This could be a reason why Billy Bush was hired, maybe people expect Lauer to leave after the election.

More stories are coming out about Matt Lauer and his affair with Natalie Morales. Apparently Natalie Morales real reason for moving was caused by Matt's pull over the network and getting tired of Natalie. This guy needs to go, NBC can't move forward by keeping this guy at the Today show. He has had a long trail of bodies. Ann Curry needs to comeback 4 years since her unfair departure, she should comeback one day on the Today show maybe during the Olympics.

Natalie Morales last day as news reader will be FRIDAY! She moves to LA Next week!!

 

She Billy, Kit, and her will anchor Access Hollywood evening edition together in Rio!

 

Watch the clip for more info about the transition!

 

No word about Billy though!

http://deadline.com/2016/07/natalie-morales-access-hollywood-debut-video-1201785553/

Interesting to watch the video. I think Natalie seems to smart for a job like that, a job like that seems more suited for Tamron. I heard rumors that they did not get along.

I liked the concert lineup this year but from what I understand 6ABC got into a lot of trouble the last couple of years for putting on certain artists that sparked controversey like Nicki Minaj. This year's concert was all about having a good time, but WCAU can't bring a full concert to life like WPVI can. How can you have a concert with the stage not being on the Art Museum.