UPDATE, 4:15 PM: The NY Times is now reporting that Curry will announce her departure from the show tomorrow morning. It did not say whether Thursday will also be her last day.
PREVIOUS, 12:18 PM: Jim Bell is executive producer of NBC’s Today show and also of NBC’s Olympics coverage. He wore his latter hat this morning in a conference call with reporters about NBCUniversal’s plans for the London Summer Games next month. But he did get a question about how he’s dealing with the turmoil at the morning show, which includes Ann Curry reportedly near to being replaced as co-anchor by current third-hour anchor Savannah Guthrie. “[The Olympics and Today] are great brands but have had ups and downs,” Bell said on the call, before adding that discussing the morning show “isn’t the purpose of this call”. Last week, reports surfaced that NBC execs are negotiating in secret on plans to replace Curry with Guthrie — this after the show saw its streak of ratings wins come to an end after 852 weeks. Curry succeeded Meredith Vieira last year. Today, the NY Times reported that Guthrie was officially offered the co-host gig and is Bell’s top choice. Broadcasting & Cable reported that an informal poll of NBC affiliates revealed that they too are being kept in the dark about Today‘s plans — though a preference for Curry to return to her hard-news roots and a lack of chemistry between Curry and co-host Matt Lauer were noted by some station GMs questioned. ”The thing we look for in television is chemistry, chemistry, chemistry,” one East Coast GM told B&C. “We just don’t have that [with Matt and Ann].”


Where Ann Curry is dull, Savannah Guthrie is very annoying. So I’m not sure if it’s much of an upgrade, unless you count the perky/fun factor. The whole show is mostly a joke, so I cannot imagine too many people are concerned with who gets to sit next to Mr. Self-Satisfied Matt Lauer.
wonderful. Savannah & Bob Costas at the Olympics. Sounds like annoying hell to me. Shes a female version of him. Good luck with that
Ann Curry just needed more make up, and a cloths stylist, NBC was to cheap to get her to the HOT phase on camera. I love her no matter what she wears. She wears her smile the best, as you all should.
Cash out that contract payday Ann, and travel and have a great life out of the daily grind.
Ann Curry was too poised for the show. Ultimately, the show is all about self-congratulation. It comes off like a bunch of high school students at the “senior assembly,” all of them “cutting up” and filled with fake modesty. Curry always seemed game but her natural dignity got in the way.
I would think they would be better off with Hoda Kotb.
I like Savannah as a reporter but I find her voice very annoying in long stretches. Why would someone with a hard news background want to get stuck interviewing the likes of the Kardashians?? ABC will only do better after this move!
Savannah Guthrie is definitely not the solution to Today’s troubles.
Savannah Guthrie has THE most annoying voice in TV news and zero personality. Whereas Anne Curry always seems gracious and lovely, and has an equally lovely voice, something that makes a difference in this field. Bad choice.
hoda is the best choice. i catch the 9a hour more than the 7a or 8a hour and i see savannah all the time. she makes just as many mistakes as ann… she bobbles names and stumbles through reading the teleprompter and she asks weird and offputting questions during interviews. the difference between her and ann though? she smiles a heck of a lot more and when she makes a mistake she laughs it off and moves on. it’s a personality thing. ann is boring. ann makes a mistake and then takes herself too serious to laugh it off.
Ann has no chemistry with Matt, and she’s awkward at banter, which is so crucial in a show like this. But I’m not sure about Savannah – I haven’t been impressed the few times I’ve seen her. One of he reasons Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira were successful on this show is because they were equals to Matt.
But Ann is not the only one responsible for the ratings decline. The content has become pretty bad, and I think Jim Bell should take the fall, too.
What happens when the numbers don’t pick up, with savannah? Then we’ll know it wasn’t the lackluster chemistry between Ann and Matt; rather, it’s the format/stories getting tired on Today?
Ann is too newscaster type. I am ok with savanah but what about Natalie ? She’s funny. Or hey, bring back Meredith. Hoda is good with kathie lee. Go Natalie.
No chemistry means friction and that will definitely show on the air as Curry is in a not give a damn attitude and mindset right now, knowing she is going to be toast sooner rather than later. Lauer should also be held accountable for the drop in ratings of the show, but NBC won’t do anything to him, considering they just re-upped his deal for several more years time. Meantime, Curry is holding out to be paid her lump-sum of her deal by NBC and once the financials are agreed to by both her and the network, then she bolts and maybe she shows up on ABC subbing for Roberts, while she has her surgery. They also need to CXL that 4th hour of TODAY!
Savannah wont make me watch again..dont see her as right for the role despite them blonding her up since court tv..but $$$talks
Matt Lauer is a snake and a phony for using his pull to get her canned. That’s what’s getting lost in this whole thing. Matt had his people to this while he was negotiating.
People always blame the woman. But she was on for a full year. And the ratings didn’t slip until fairly recently. Why isn’t he getting some grief b/c he’s not spring chicken any longer himself.
I do agree that Anne Curry is really more a serious journalist, but to Savannah ??!!!!.
She is a bore…
Nathalie is fun, quick, after all she is from Brazil, and very attractive.
Wake up Today people
Hire a young blonde from FOX or a mixed race hottie. Call it a day people. Geez. Not that difficult.
I will no longer watch the Today Show! It’s time to completely clean house and especially include Matt! Ann was so professional and well-rounded and dedicated to her profession! She sure was a classy lady! And as far as I’m concerned, Matt could never be satisfied and equal with another woman commentator. Matt, you better put in a full days work week now since Annn no longer can cover for you!!
Savannah Guthrie’s voice is awful, and she is like a stepford newsreader. She is so boring. Why they didn’t hire Ashleigh Banfield as a co-host with Matt I will never know. They would have been perfect together.
The Today Show has gone steadily downhill for years. They don’t need to be 3-hour show, let alone 2-hours. They don’t produce anything of interest! Segments of any value are cut short in time to make room for chit-chat about pop stars latest arrests, what they wore to court, type of gum they chew… It takes a ‘special’ kind of brain cell to be interested in that bull. And why keep Matt? The spray paint covering his bald spots isn’t working anymore! If they really want a fresh, new show, they need to can Today altogether & give the time slot to someone who knows how to produce interesting tv with real CONTENT! Honestly, the only time I watch Today anymore is if I catch the last 5-10 minutes before The Peoples Court. And even during those last few minutes of Today, I find folding laundry more interesting!
I have always loved The Today Show! I will never watch it again, Ann Curry is the most compassionate person I have ever seen on TV.
I will definitely miss Anne! I love her compassion and credibility. When will NBC wake up and consider the possibility of two women as hosts, get rid of Matt Lauer (who comes across as smug and too self-important), and put the man as the third wheel off to the side in the role that women have always seemed to play? I guess it’s time to check out what ABC and CBS are doing in the morning. Major screw-up, NBC. . . .
I agree!!!
I agree that Matt Lauer should of took some of the blame off Anne Curry since it’s was suppossed to be a team job. I been watching NBC for the last 35 years now since Anne is going I’ll be watching
ABC or CBS at lest they have their act together.
Ann Curry had a beautiful, mellow speaking voice and radiated courtesy and compassion. Samantha Guthrie has no personality and a grating speaking voice; Matt has lost the charm and modesty he once had. Now the Today Show is more like a wake than a wake-up start to the day!! GMA is far superior.