You are viewing the archive: “Meredith Vieira”

Meredith Vieira To Film NBCU Pilot For Daytime Talk Show Eying Fall 2014 Launch

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 1, 2013 @ 2:31pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Meredith Vieira, NBCU
Nellie Andreeva

Meredith VieiraAnd we have the first major syndicated talk show contender for fall 2014. Former The View, Today and departing Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host Meredith Vieira is set to do a pilot for a daytime syndicated talk show at NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution, which is targeted for a launch in fall 2014. Vieira entered talks with NBCU for the project shortly after she announced in January that she was leaving syndicated game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after 11 years. In headlining a syndicated daytime talk show, Vieira will follow in the footsteps of her Today predecessors Jane Pauley and Katie Couric. But I hear that Vieira’s talk show would be lighter and more entertaining, something her 11-year Millionaire stint certainly had prepared her for. Such a show could go well with The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Steve Harvey on the NBC stations. The NBC station group has not committed to a new show for next fall to succeed freshman Jeff Probst, which is not getting renewed. It is quite possible that the stations will keep the 2 PM slot warm with temporary programming (NBCU’s Access Hollywood spinoff, Access Hollywood Live, has been rumored as a possibility), until the Meredith Vieira show arrives in fall 2014. It would create a cohesive entertaining talk show block from 2-5 PM with Vieira, Harvey, who also hosts a syndicated game show, Family Feud, and Ellen. Ellen has already been renewed through 2016-17; Steve Harvey is in the process of securing clearances through 2015-16. NBC declined comment, saying that “we do not comment on development.”

Vieira earlier this week defended her former Today co-host, Matt Lauer, criticizing NBC over the way Lauer had been portrayed in the dismissal of Vieira’s successor, Ann Curry, and telling New York Post that “what is happening to Matt is really wrong.” As for Couric, her freshman daytime talk show has a deal with the ABC stations though next season, so it is unclear yet whether it would be around in fall 2014 when Vieira’s show would premiere.

Comments (14)

Cedric The Entertainer To Succeed Meredith Vieira As Host Of Syndicated ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 7, 2013 @ 7:27am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Cedric the Entertainer, Meredith Vieira, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Nellie Andreeva

Following some chatter during NATPE last week, I have learned that Cedric The Entertainer has closed a three-year deal to replace Meredith Vieira as host the syndicated version of quiz show Who Wants To … Read More »

Comments (10)

Meredith Vieira To Host Daytime Talk Show?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 17, 2013 @ 2:56pm PSTTags: Meredith Vieira, NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Nellie Andreeva

Meredith Vieira recently opted not to renew her contract for syndicated quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire so she could “move on and do other things.” Those other things may be a new daytime talk … Read More »

Comments (6)

Meredith Vieira Leaving Syndicated ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 10, 2013 @ 10:01pm PSTTags: Meredith Vieira, Who Wants To Be A Millioanire
Nellie Andreeva

Meredith Vieira is departing the syndicated version of quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Vieira has been the host of the syndicated Millionaire since its launch in 2002. This is the final year of Vieira’s current … Read More »

Comments (14)

Investigation Discovery Buys Docu From Meredith Vieira Prods.

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday November 16, 2011 @ 9:24am PSTTags: Investigation Discovery, Meredith Vieira

Investigation Discovery has acquired domestic TV rights to the documentary The Woman Who Wasn’t There from Meredith Vieira Productions. The film, which delves into the mind of “history’s most influential 9/11 survivor,” is set to premiere on the network sometime … Read More »

Comments (0)

Meredith Vieira Joins Brian Williams’ NBC Primetime Newsmagazine

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 13, 2011 @ 3:03pm PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Brian Williams, Meredith Vieira, NBC Nightly News, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Today

Meredith Vieira, who announced in May that she was retiring from her job as Today co-host and signed off in June, isn’t settled into her rocking chair just yet. NBC News said today that Vieira has been named … Read More »

Comments (5)

CANNES: Parties, Pirates, And Fireworks

By PETE HAMMOND | Saturday May 14, 2011 @ 6:20pm PDTTags: Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Kanye West, Meredith Vieira, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Robert De Niro, Soul Surfer
Pete Hammond

Cannes experienced a huge dose of starpower on its prime Saturday night as the Film Festival hosted the latest premiere following big events at Disneyland and in Moscow for Disney’s summer juggernaut Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. For the out-of-competition event, stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, plus producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Director Rob Marshall, all hit the red carpet. You literally could not navigate the massive crowd scene in front of and surrounding the Palais as this group worked the paparazzi. It drew the biggest throng of fans so far at the Fest, all trying to position themselves to get a glimpse of the stars. Cannes loves photo opps like this and has been actively courting studios to bring their big summer behemoths to the Cote d’Azur in order to guarantee some celeb glitz. With Depp and Cruz tonight, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie making their entrance Monday night for Brad’s Tree of Life premiere, the photogs are having a field day. I  also heard Leonardo DiCaprio hit town this weekend as well. Read More »

Comments (2)

Matt Lauer On Doing Talk Show With Katie Couric: “It’s Not Going To Happen”

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday May 9, 2011 @ 3:23pm PDTTags: Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, NBC, NBC News, Today
Nellie Andreeva

At a press conference today discussing the pending anchor switchover on NBC’s Today triggered by the upcoming departure of Meredith Vieira, co-host Matt Lauer addressed speculation that he might join former Today cohort Katie Couric on her potential syndicated talk show. “We certainly spoke about the possibility, but we’ve talked about a lot of possibilities over the years,” Lauer said, according to press reports. “It turned into just talk. And that’s where we left it. It’s not going to happen.” Word is those overtures to Lauer infuriated NBC brass and led to the network pulling out of contention for the Couric talker. As for the rumors that one way or another Lauer may be leaving Today when his contract is up in December 2012 or even sooner, “I have a long-term deal with NBC News,” he said. “I’m going to be here for a while. You’re going to get sick of me.” Read More »

Comments (4)

Meredith Vieira Announces Her Exit From ‘Today’, Ann Curry To Replace Her

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday May 9, 2011 @ 7:14am PDTTags: Meredith Vieira, Today
Nellie Andreeva

On NBC’s Today show this morning, Meredith Vieira confirmed that she will leave the show next month to spend more time with her family and that Ann Curry will replace her as co-host alongside Matt Lauer. Vieira, whose husband, author Richard M. Cohen,  has been coping with multiple sclerosis and colon cancer, will make her exit in June, ahead of the September end of her contract. She has been on Today for 5 years, having replaced Katie Couric in 2006. “Even as I say this and I know that it’s the right thing, I’m really sad,” Vieira said. Said Lauer, “(Vieira) has brought class and dignity and talent and a joy of life to this show for the last five years.” For Curry, who has been Today’s news reader since 1997, this is a promotion 5 years in the making as she was passed over for the top job five years ago but stuck with the show. “I feel like the high school computer nerd who has just been asked to the prom by the quarterback of the football team,” Curry said. She will be replaced as news anchor by Natalie Morales, an anchor for the third hour of Today, while Savannah Guthrie has been added as co-host of the third hour with Morales and Al Roker. Below is video of this morning’s announcement: Read More »

Comments 20

Meredith Vieira Poised To Exit ‘Today’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 5, 2011 @ 3:13pm PDTTags: Meredith Vieira, NBC, Today
Nellie Andreeva

Katie Couric, do you want your old job back? While media attention has been focused on Couric’s pending departure from CBS Evening News, the anchor who succeeded her on Today, Meredith Vieira, is  reportedly plotting an exit too. According to TVGuide Magazine, NBC News brass are still hopeful they would get the 57-year-old Vieira to stay beyond September, when her current contract expires, but chances appear slim. When Vieira’s previous multi-year contract with Today was up last year, she only agreed to a one-year extension. And, after going outside to replace Couric in 2006, NBC may stick with homegrown talent this time, like Ann Curry or Natalie Morales. As for Vieira, she has discussed the possibly of leaving Today fairly recently. “I’ll know when it’s time to go, and I’m not afraid to go,” Vieira said in an interview last October. “If I were to leave at the end of next year because it’s time for me, I wouldn’t jump into another show. I would look forward to not working, to traveling with (husband) Richard and carving out time for us. You’re always doing something, if you are curious. It doesn’t have to be a 9-to-5 job.” Read More »

Comments 31