NBC To Pay $10M To Get Rid Of Ann Curry
You don't think winning the morning television race is important to networks? NBC is going to pay Ann Curry $10M just to get rid of her and the last year of her contract. Being second in the morning is not an option. I'm not really sure how Hoda is going to work out although it is fun to say her name and spell it. How many people named Hoda do you know? I watched Natalie Morales do that Sister Wives Q&A thing last night, but she looks and acts just like every other news/host person and is indistinguishable. At least Hoda stands out. So did Ann though. Maybe people are just tired of Matt.
50 comments:
Her husband should be very happy...
Watching Ann During an interview is nothing shirt of awkward and painful. I almost feel sorry for her.
Watching Ann During an interview is nothing shirt of awkward and painful. I almost feel sorry for her.
Exactly, why is Matt the golden goose. Maybe it's time for him to go.
news programs = old people business
I wish they'd get rid of Natalie too. I find her grating and blatantly fake.
Also, I think the rumors about her and Matt are starting to get to her. She totes out her kids far too often.
I'd rather see Savannah Guthrie, who I know a lot of people don't love, or Tamryn Hall.
I can't stand Savannah! I like Natalie and Tamryn.
I don't like watching Ann during interviews.
Sometimes she gets nervous, starts sweating, turning a little red, and I start to feel uncomfortable watching her.
Glad she's going
Ann will be laughing all the way to the bank when their ratings continue to drop after she's gone. Not that I like her, but they're really using her as a scapegoat.
I'm not an Ann fan, but I can't even inagine how difficult, awkward and uncomfortable it must be for her to show up each day, knowing that everyone knows what's about to happen.
Getting $10 million to leave my job? Yes please! :D
What @surfer said.
People reading from teleprompter or rehearsed questions offer no value. People who critique those type of performances need to find something to do with themselves. FYI, before Matt Lauer became a star her worked at my local affiliate and "interviewed" my dog after she won a pet Halloween costume contest.
Well at least she won't have to sit next to Matt and his glibness anymore. I watch GMA so...
Ann or no Ann i don't think their ratings will change much
Ann should never been named co-anchor. Just because she had seniority didn't make her the best fit. She asks the dumbest questions and just comes off very condescending. I'm not a fan of Matt's but at least he pushes the envelope.
I would love to see Tamyn get the position. She is intelligent and likeable but it doesn't sound like her name is even in the mix. Natalie is so so, nothing earth shattering. Savannah seems sweet but she always looks uncomfortable. I like Hoda and will like her better without having to correct and steer Kathie Lee.
I'm sure with her sick husband Meredith didn't take too long to say no when they asked her to come back but I wonder how much of the decision was to not work with Lauer again. Life is too short to work with someone like that if you don't have to.
I'm with izz. I don't think this is going to do anything for their ratings. Maybe if they'd stop pimping for all those crap shows on Bravo, that might keep more of us from changing the channel.
They should do a total re-vamp. Matt and all his mistresses should be given the boot. Why do they continue to provide him with fresh meat? Is he really that special? NBC is the Madame of early morning tv.
Savannah Guthrie is so aesthetically unpleasing. There is something about her face that just irritates me to no end. I enjoy Hoda, I think she's fun and pleasant. The only question is who is going to replace her on the morning show with Kathie Lee?
@Ashlea, I *totally* agree about Savannah. I feel bad even saying it, but it's the truth. It's her mouth that bugs me. She has no upper lip. It's the only thing I can focus on when she's onscreen, I won't be able to stand watching the show if she is a bigger part than she is now.
Take the money and RUN!!!!
I don't watch the Today show unless I specifically want to watch an interview. Once in awhile I catch Ann. Besides her weird infatuation with Brad & Pitt she is no worse than anyone else on that show. I stopped watching the morning news when Diane Sayers left Good Morning America. She was a great fit with Charlie Gibson, and then Robin Roberts.
I just get the feeling nobody likes each other on the Today show, and I never felt that way watch GMA.
I stopped watching the Today show ages ago, because the hosts don't seem to care much anymore, and the stories are frothy. Good for Ann's agent for negotiating such a good contract. I don't think changing her out will fix things, though. They need to get Matt Lauer a personality transplant (and some hair plugs).
I think Tamron Hall would be the best choice . . . To replace Matt Lauer. I'm cool with Hoda replacing Ann. I would watch that morning show.
I have a feeling there must've been some deal with Hoda in the works for quite awhile. I never understood why they would put her, a journalist, opposite Kathie, a moron. Maybe they told her sit out in 4th hour and if Ann tanked the job was hers?
@seaward, i'm cracking up over here. You are so right! Its her lack of an upper lip!
I don't watch those morning shows -- I watch an actual news show in the morning so I can at least have a general idea of what's going on in the world. However, I must say, I would love to be paid $10 million to sit on my ass and not work, let alone get up before the the ass crack of dawn and deal with the Today Show people. Heck, I'd be thrilled with $1 million.
Ann Curry is the wrong person to co-host Today, but it's the network's fault for putting her there. I'm not particularly a fan of Ms. Curry, but I think she's handled this situation with more grace than NBC has. She's a good reporter on long-form stuff, I hope she gets to do some of that somewhere.
I think/hope Today's ratings will continue to drop - it's turned into a total shillfest with no news of any value.
After growing up with the Today Show part of every morning, I had to stop watching 15 years ago for one reason: Ann Curry.
Her interviews are PAINFUL.
They should get rid of Matt and all his mistresses. I don't think Ann has been treated fairly. She's been there forever. And I wish I were as ugly as Savannah! As far as Tamron, she doesn't like anyone who has an opinion that is different from hers. I'm glad she didn't get the job. I wish Hoda luck.
"Maybe people are just tired of Matt" - YEP! And its not only the viewers. Clueless NBC doesn't know how to pick shows, doesn't know how to market good ones, doesn't know how to counter-program, and still hasn't figured out that their problem is the on-set problem: Matt Lauer.
Someone brought up a good point. I wonder if Meredith just didn't like working with Matt.
Matt is an arrogant prick, but I feel very confident that he is capable of asking tough questions. He needs to do it more often. I love the way he ruffled George W. Bush's feathers during an interview.
@CrazyCatLady
(
I feel like I'm insulting you using your screen name!)
I have wondered the same thing about Hoda. That pairing never made sense, and I felt like she was committing career suicide. Even though I rarely watch morning news shows anymore (we're a cartoon house right now with little ones) I hope Hoda gets the job
I used to love Matt when he first came on, but agree with all you guys - smug turd with few morals (if the rumors are indeed true)
Matt wants his little mistress Natalie Morales to get the gig - I have lost all respect for her after reading a recent blind item on blindgossip.com. I hope Hoda gets it. I can't believe how much power Matt Lauer has at NBC.
I don't watch the morning news shows, but NBC is the worst network. They've been in the shitter ever since Friends ended.
They should have tried to renew that show for ten more years.
Actually, Enty, my husband's best friend has both a wife and a sister named Hoda. Makes it real confusing when he doesn't specify which Hoda he's talking about.
Ann makes my head hurt watching her! She was fine reading the teleprompter, but not at anything else. She is so painfully awkward and slow. She cannot jab with Matt on air like Meredith and Katie did.
Matt maybe a prick, but I still like watching him in the mornings. Lately I've been watching Charlie Rose though on CBS. It's so weird to see him before midnight though.
I'm on team Hoda. I feel bad for Ann but this mess was not her fault--NBC had many years of watching her fill in for the hosts and they promoted her because she'd been sitting in the news reader chair for a long time.
She's a class act and seems to be taking all this in a very professional way. In the end that will be what people remember --that she didn't walk out or talk badly about the powers that be. She will do a good job in the field--her out covering foreign news is some of her best work.
The Today show has bigger problems than Ann Curry. I am a 20+-year viewer that has stuck with it, but may not for too much longer. First off, some of their segments suck, such as:
-What's Trending Today, a recap of hot topics. These are mainly internt topics. Well, if I want to hear about internet hot topics, I will go to the internet.
-Today's Professionals, a panel with Star Jones, Donny Deutsch, and Nancy Snyderman. They give their views on the topics of the day. They are all interesting people, but they go through about 5questions in 10 minutes. They can't can into any depth any one topic in that amount of time. Then, the panelists have to try to take turns or risk talking over each other. It doesn't always work.
--As someone said above, plugging Bravo, but also plugging other affiliates. Last Friday, they made poor Jenna do a story on a new ride opening at a Universal theme park.
--The uncreative consumer item stories. They did a story on items for summer, and there was nothing creative. It was on towels and neon fanny packs.
Finally, in addition to some of the segments sucking, I noticed when I was over on Gawker/Jezebel for a brief phase that the Today show always did stories on things posted on these sites. I guess the internet has an advantage of breaking things more quickly, but it just seemed like some producer on the show was getting segment ideas from there.
So why do I watch... maybe habit? I guess the positives are that they do get some good exclusive interviews from time to time, and I like the Friday concert summer series. I also give Lester Holt a thumbs up.
Ann Curry is a smart, powerful, sexy, beautiful, classy woman. She'll be just fine and will now have ten million extra reasons to keep her head up after she leaves. Why the hate for Ann, NBC?
Didn't Matt have Amy Roebuck fired when he broke off the affair with her and she was not to happy about it? Matt is hot an all but he needs to either get a rug or shave off those last 10 hairs on his head, jeese can they powder that thing it is shiney like a new penny. They should get Lawyer Star Jones to be the co - host to really stick it to Barbara
Network news has not seen my tv in a long time, or is the other way around...my tv hasn't seen network news in a long time. Tempestuous grape is right imo and i'm old!
Internet is much better on news.
I am jumping on the anti-Savannah train. It's not her looks that bother me, she is just too eager and coltish almost. I just have a hard time taking her seriously when she is used as a legal correspondent. I just feel like she so badly wants to "join the gang" or something.
@Sue T. - Watching Nancy Snyderman flirt with and fall all over Donny Deutsch is comical yet unsettling. I don't know what that's all about, but she needs to get a hold of herself.
@Sue T
You got it right! WTF is going on with that show? I don't understand the panel of "professionals" to tell me their thoughts. I don't care what Star Jones thinks! Nancy Sneiderman (sp) use to work in the Bay Area. She was a snore then too. How many times can she tell me to eat less and exercise more?
OMG! The Bravo crap! I don't watch Bravo shows and could care less. Why not let Andy Cohen take over for Ann? Unless Matt turns to the other side, NBC won't have to worry about him sleeping with Andy.
Does Today still do the weddings for sweeps? Is Matt still going around the world every May, November, and February? Even Carmen San Diego has been retired.
All those cooking shows look like crap too, except for Martha Stewart.
It's time for me to watch Charlie Rose in the AM.
I have only like Matt once and that was last week during the bus monitor story. Other than that, he seems like he is trying way to hard to be this hard hitting serious journalists. He never lets his interviewees answer their questions before he is rapid firing other questions at them. He is not gentle when he needs to be. Kind of harsh. Goodbye Matt. We miss Katie, Meredith and Ann could do the show together. That would be fun.
One word: Regis
As others have pointed out, Savannah Guthrie suffers from Reba McEntire Syndrome--no upper lip. She strongly resembles Maria Shriver, as well.
I just totally dislike Matt.
1) Nancy Snyderman is a superior snot.
2) Matt is full of himself.
3) Al looks like he's just going through the motions until retirement.
4) Savannah has an even worse personality than Ann.
5) Natalie is brittle & shrill.
6) I hope Hoda succeeds but if I were her I wouldn't take the job.
7) The real problem is that these segments are devoid of meaningful content and too hectic. A chef has virtually no time to prepare a dish, for example. And who says the team HAS to be a woman and a man? Put Lester together with Matt and I bet it will work out great.
8) Fire Jenna Bush. Are they kidding?
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