NBC is betting half a billion dollars on a familiar face.
The network's news division said Monday that longtime "Today" show news anchor Ann Curry will take over as co-anchor in June, succeeding Meredith Vieira alongside Matt Lauer on TV's most profitable couch.
Meanwhile, Natalie Morales, who now co-hosts the third hour of "Today" will take over Ms. Curry's news anchor role, and NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie will slip into Ms. Morales's 9 a.m. hosting spot.
Ms. Vieira will take an unspecified new role within NBC News, the unit said.
The announcement confirms weeks of news reports about the change. NBC didn't offer a reason for Ms. Vieira's departure from the show, which was expected after she only opted for a one-year contract extension last year.
The swap poses a tricky challenge for NBC. Any shift at "Today"—even to another known quantity, like Ms. Curry—risks upsetting the delicate chemistry at the core of the popular show at an unstable time for the TV business.
For Comcast Corp., which took over NBC's parent company just over three months ago, the stakes are magnified because "Today" isn't just a profit center, earning more than $500 million a year in ad revenue, but one of the most prominent success stories at an ailing network.
NBC trails its competitors in prime-time hours, and the network bleeds hundreds of millions of dollars a year in red ink. But in the mornings, "Today" is dominant. It has ranked No. 1 in each week for more than 15 consecutive years, beating competition on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC andCBS Corp.'s CBS.
But "Today," which has been on the air since 1952, faces a mixed competitive picture. Its roughly 700,000 total-viewer lead over ABC's "Good Morning America" is the thinnest since 2005, according to Nielsen Co. At the same time, this TV season through May 1, it has 38% more viewers between 25 and 54 years old than "Good Morning America," nearly tying its largest margin that group sold to advertisers in seven years, according to Nielsen.
James Goldston, the new executive producer at "Good Morning America," said in a recent interview that he is mounting a new push to close the ratings gap, in part by adding to the show's ensemble. "We are very serious about competing in the morning in a way that we haven't been able to do recently, he said. "A lot of pride and a lot of money" is at stake, he added.
There is another potential risk looming. Even as Ms. Vieira prepares to leave after five years, co-host Mr. Lauer, whose tenure dates back to 1997, is weighing whether to renew his contract after it expires at the end of 2012, according to people familiar with the matter. How well he and Ms. Curry mesh on screen in the coming months could be a factor in whether he stays, one of those people said.
"Today," which airs four hours from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. each weekday, brought in $535 million in advertising revenue in 2010, up 5.6% from a year earlier according to estimates from Kantar Media. "Good Morning America" took in $314 million in ad spending, up 6.3% from a year earlier, while CBS's No. 3 "The Early Show" reaped $178 million down 7.7% from a year earlier.
"You have to assume they're going to make a real run at it," Victor Neufeld, a former executive producer for CBS's "Early Show," said of the competitors following an anchor shift. "Everything will be in play."
While "Today" has had several clean transitions—including Ms. Vieira for Katie Couric in 2006 and Mr. Lauer for Bryant Gumbel in 1997—anchor swaps can be times of danger, TV-news executives say.
NBC, for instance, saw ratings and revenue fall in 1990, after Deborah Norville took over for Jane Pauley on "Today;" Ms. Norville lasted barely more than a year.
"Individual personalities are hugely important because we have reached a point where the outlines of the programs are essentially similar," said Richard C. Wald, a former NBC executive. "If you like one person or group of people better than the others, that's the program you will watch."
The network's news division said Monday that longtime "Today" show news anchor Ann Curry will take over as co-anchor in June, succeeding Meredith Vieira alongside Matt Lauer on TV's most profitable couch.
Meanwhile, Natalie Morales, who now co-hosts the third hour of "Today" will take over Ms. Curry's news anchor role, and NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie will slip into Ms. Morales's 9 a.m. hosting spot.
Ms. Vieira will take an unspecified new role within NBC News, the unit said.
The announcement confirms weeks of news reports about the change. NBC didn't offer a reason for Ms. Vieira's departure from the show, which was expected after she only opted for a one-year contract extension last year.
The swap poses a tricky challenge for NBC. Any shift at "Today"—even to another known quantity, like Ms. Curry—risks upsetting the delicate chemistry at the core of the popular show at an unstable time for the TV business.
For Comcast Corp., which took over NBC's parent company just over three months ago, the stakes are magnified because "Today" isn't just a profit center, earning more than $500 million a year in ad revenue, but one of the most prominent success stories at an ailing network.
NBC trails its competitors in prime-time hours, and the network bleeds hundreds of millions of dollars a year in red ink. But in the mornings, "Today" is dominant. It has ranked No. 1 in each week for more than 15 consecutive years, beating competition on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC andCBS Corp.'s CBS.
But "Today," which has been on the air since 1952, faces a mixed competitive picture. Its roughly 700,000 total-viewer lead over ABC's "Good Morning America" is the thinnest since 2005, according to Nielsen Co. At the same time, this TV season through May 1, it has 38% more viewers between 25 and 54 years old than "Good Morning America," nearly tying its largest margin that group sold to advertisers in seven years, according to Nielsen.
James Goldston, the new executive producer at "Good Morning America," said in a recent interview that he is mounting a new push to close the ratings gap, in part by adding to the show's ensemble. "We are very serious about competing in the morning in a way that we haven't been able to do recently, he said. "A lot of pride and a lot of money" is at stake, he added.
There is another potential risk looming. Even as Ms. Vieira prepares to leave after five years, co-host Mr. Lauer, whose tenure dates back to 1997, is weighing whether to renew his contract after it expires at the end of 2012, according to people familiar with the matter. How well he and Ms. Curry mesh on screen in the coming months could be a factor in whether he stays, one of those people said.
"Today," which airs four hours from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. each weekday, brought in $535 million in advertising revenue in 2010, up 5.6% from a year earlier according to estimates from Kantar Media. "Good Morning America" took in $314 million in ad spending, up 6.3% from a year earlier, while CBS's No. 3 "The Early Show" reaped $178 million down 7.7% from a year earlier.
"You have to assume they're going to make a real run at it," Victor Neufeld, a former executive producer for CBS's "Early Show," said of the competitors following an anchor shift. "Everything will be in play."
While "Today" has had several clean transitions—including Ms. Vieira for Katie Couric in 2006 and Mr. Lauer for Bryant Gumbel in 1997—anchor swaps can be times of danger, TV-news executives say.
"Individual personalities are hugely important because we have reached a point where the outlines of the programs are essentially similar," said Richard C. Wald, a former NBC executive. "If you like one person or group of people better than the others, that's the program you will watch."
