On Thursday morning, I sat and watched Ann Curry say a tearful good-bye to her viewers on Today. Clearly, the news veteran was teary eyed. Just a little over a year ago, she started her dream job as the co-host of Today. Now, she’s been forced out.
Curry’s tenure at Today spans my entire journalistic career including my time studying broadcasting in college. As such, she is truly someone I admire and aspire to be like. Her poise under pressure and her story telling ability is unparalleled.
The way Ann was treated is embarrassing, but she isn’t the one who should be embarrassed or the one taking accountability for failure. NBC should be ashamed of themselves for acting too fast making themselves look like amateurs.
The news business is fickle. Its especially tough when you’ve been in the number one spot for what seems like eternity and then suddenly that reign gets jeopardized. That’s the position that the suits at Today find themselves in, and this probably won’t be their last bad move.
From here, NBC MUST find a solid replacement for Curry. It can’t be homely looking Savanah Gunthrie. She is bland and lack luster. With Today alum Katie Couric on team ABC, you can guarantee that there will be ample amounts of cross promotions between her new talk show and Good Morning America. With that not-so-secret weapon on top of theiralready solid anchor desk, GMA isn’t going away. Add that to tear-filled good-bye after tear-filled good-bye at Today, and you’ve got a recipe for change. I wouldn’t be shocked to see GMA zoom right by Today and flip flop the whole script. In all actuality, it would serve NBC right.
The days of that morning show molding public opinion as they see fit are clearly over. The smart decision would clearly be to bring in star with the potential for longevity like Hoda Kotb which would also make way for Regis and Kathie Lee to reunite.
Regardless, they better not back door many more anchors the way they did Ann Curry or Today is going to become yesterday’s news.
