EXCERPTED BACKSTORY---NBC announced last January on that it would replace disgraced former “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, naming Hoda Kotb as permanent co-host. “Today” has been beating “GMA” for the first time in years since Kotb stepped in after Lauer’s dramatic firing in November, perhaps issuing in a sea change in the highly competitive morning TV wars. The addition of Hoda Kotb to early portion of “Today” has resulted in five straight weekly victories for NBC. There has been speculation that Lauer was actually turning viewers away from “Today” ......post-Lauer morning shows are hugely important to the broadcast networks’ bottom lines.
Kotb will make roughly $18 million per year less than the disgraced Lauer who pulled in $25 million, according to the New York Post.
ABC will be under increased pressure to justify its hosts’ exorbitant salaries to ABC’s notoriously parsimonious owner, Disney. Now that he's failing in the ratings, maybe it's time for the network to choose a less divisive host and a more professional path. - Dan Gainor, Media Research Center
There has been speculation that Lauer was actually turning viewers away from “Today” The dude was way past his prime. He may have appealed to female viewers, but once he went gray and bald, he probably lost a lot of them.