W. VA SENATOR WANTS MTV TO YANK BUCKWILD

If MTV producers had hoped to stir up the same sort of controversy for Buckwild that accompanied the debut of Jersey Shore in 2009, they apparently have succeeded. One month before the new reality series debuts, on-air promos have already angered some residents of West Virginia, where it is set, and prompted the state’s junior […]

LAUER DIDN’T BOOT CURRY, I DID, SAYS TODAY EXEC PRODUCER

Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC’s Today show, insists that it was he and not Matt Lauer who made the decision to replace Ann Curry with Savannah Guthrie as co-anchor. “He is the host and does not have management responsibility,” Bell told the New York Times. “It was not his call. That was my […]

GMA RETURNS TO NO. 1 IN THE A.M. (Updated)

After falling behind NBC’s Today show during the Olympics by more than 1.5 million viewers, ABC’s Good Morning America has returned to the lead, taking over first place on Tuesday by a margin of 186,000 viewers and on Wednesday (the day of Robert Pattinson’s appearance) by 517,000 viewers. Meanwhile on Thursday, Today‘s weatherman, Al Roker, […]

GUTHRIE QUIETLY TAKES OVER ANN CURRY’S JOB

A day after Ann Curry was ousted as co-host of NBC’s Today show, the morning show’s news reader, Savannah Guthrie quietly took her place. There was no special welcome for her and it wasn’t until after the show had already aired that Today‘s executive producer Jim Bell issued a statement saying that he was “thrilled […]

TODAY RECLAIMS MORNING TITLE

That morning ratings race between NBC’s Today show and ABC’s Good Morning America is taking on all the trappings of a mano-a-mano Yankees-Red Sox battle (the current season excepted). A week after GMA beat Today by a razor thin margin — its first weekly win in 16 years — Today roared back last week to […]

LAUER RE-UPS FOR ANOTHER 5 YEARS ON TODAY

Matt Lauer has reportedly landed a lucrative five-year deal with NBC to remain as co-host of the Today show, published reports said today (Friday). The website TMZ said that Lauer will receive “close to” the $30-million annual salary that he had demanded to stay on (he currently gets $17 million) and that informally NBC agreed […]

SEACREST: A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR?

Ryan Seacrest on Wednesday appeared on NBC’s show, which had teased that he would be making “a major announcement” — and while there was no announcement that he would, as rumored, replace Matt Lauer if Lauer and NBC fail to reach an agreement on a new contract, this bit of repartee between Seacrest and Lauer […]

SEACREST RUMORS PROVOKE BATTLE AT NBC NEWS

An internal battle is taking place at NBC News over persistent rumors that the network intends to name American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest the new host of the Today show if, as seems fairly certain, Matt Lauer leaves the morning show late next year, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Wednesday), citing unnamed sources. According to […]

WILL TODAY BECOME AN ENTERTAINMENT SHOW WITH RYAN SECREST?

As rumors continued to gain traction that NBC was in talks with Ryan Secrest about replacing Matt Lauer on the Today show if Lauer decides to depart at the end of his contract next year, AdWeek has noted that such a change could hasten the transformation of the morning program to “a softer, more entertainment-focused […]

NFL PREGAME SHOWS TO BATTLE PRESIDENT OBAMA

Sunday Night Football kicks off the season on NBC tonight on an odd note. First of all, it”s not airing on Sunday night; it’s airing on Thursday night. Also, the pregame show will not be airing on NBC, but it will be airing on five cable networks instead, USA Network, Syfy, Versus, G4 and NFL […]

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