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I don't think Matt will be leaving any time soon, I wouldn't be leaving if I was on $25 Million a year...

I think the whole 'Goodbye Studio 1A' thing was because there was nobody leaving to throw a party for. The last new set, Katie changed to Meredith.

I don't think anyone is suggesting Matt will quit... As you say, why would he after negotiating such a great deal.

The question is, will NBC want to keep Matt on the show? There are only so many other people you can blame for a show's problems before you run out of other people to blame.

But the show is actually rising in ratings again lately so I don't think they will want to change presenters. Also while I do agree GMA has better chemistry, Today is still less fluff and more news oriented compared to them. GMA feels like TRL (MTV teen music show) for grown ups.

At least that's my impression from watching on streams lately.

From reports Lauer and NBC have an 'opt-out' clause for 2014, and Matt's wife told the NYT's Brian Stelter at the time of the contract signing that NBC had 'two more years and he's mine'. I think honestly by next year Matt will have a large warchest, a more stable reputation and a tire of doing the same stale show after all these years. ABC and CBS both rearranged their onair teams when they perceived them not to be working, and that's without the melodrama Today has suffered. I don't think anyone can suggest the Lauer-Guthrie-Morales-Roker team is likely to be a winner any time soon.

But at the same time issue the 'team' has isn't uniquely Matt Lauer. Matt - love him or hate him - is probably a more dominant figure now than ever before because Al Roker is, ultimately a support player, and neither of the women - Guthrie or Morales - have large enough personalities or onscreen egos to rival him. Vieira and Couric both kept Lauer in his place more by appearing smart, strong (no offence intended) older women by his side. Guthrie, on the other hand, still acts like the dorky younger sister, and Morales always seems to struggle to find her place in the team. Ann Curry might not have had the right personality to sit next to Lauer as co-host, but she was a more prominent member of a well-oiled team that had better overall chemistry when she was news anchor to Lauer, Vieira and Couric, compared to Morales with Lauer and Guthrie.

And then again if Matt does go, I can't see how NBC lose Guthrie or Morales without having to completely rebuild the show - again.

And in terms of content, what does NBC do? CBS has the more serious side of news handled perfectly, ABC the tabloid angle and MSNBC the political - is there a place for NBC's more hybrid approach at a winner's table?

There is one spanner to throw into the mix, however -- Robin Roberts could have left GMA by next year. Her current contract will be up by then reportedly, and (without meaning to invade privacy) surely 10+ years of 3am starts, with two serious health problems during that time, must take its toll. Not that the show took a hit while she was on leave, and if she did leave I think ABC could move Katie Couric (whose daytime talkshow will almost certainly have been cancelled by then), Amy Robach or Lara Spencer into that role without too much fanfare, provided Roberts stuck around as part of the GMA family.



Still, I'm intrigued by the new Today set. Based on the "reimagining the plaza experience" quote, I wonder if they will design something that extends beyond the studio walls more. At present there appears to be two distinct areas - Studio 1A, and the plaza area outside it. If they could somehow extend the set onto the plaza, that might literally breathe new air into the studio and Today's format a little.

I'm not really sure if that's true, is it? Almost a full year has passed uninterrupted with Today in second place, and TVNewser reports GMA just won by "its largest margins over NBC’s “Today” in more than five months."

I don't know, recently I read some updates which said they had increases but are still behind GMA of course. CBS This Morning has the biggest increases and growth.

delete-double post

Well if his wife gets her way... She has already filed for divorce once before!
I definitely don't see him there in 4 years imo.



It isn't, last week it was 1m behind GMA. Which is the most in ages and was there best demo win in months.

It's interesting that recently they had Carson Daly (former host MTV's TRL and currently a talk show/radio host) doing weekend editions and also filling in for Matt on weekdays at least once.

I agree on all this, I think Hoda Kotb would have been a better replacement for Ann. I am not in favour of them using MSNBC as their recruiting ground for Today, in particular I think Willie Geist isn't right for their target audience either.
I hope they abandon the GMA style opening with all the presenters behind the desk as it just doesn't work when there is little chemistry between the hosts and when your news reader is as charisma free as Morales.

Yeah the comb bit was just so spontaneous....
I have actually seen them be a lot worst. A few months ago Matt spent a good minute telling Al how great it was to have him back from a 1 week vacation! ''We missed you buddy!'' With Al visibly cringing.



That would be Debroah Turness who was launch editor of Channel 4's RISE