Matt Lauer
The team from ABC's Good Morning America sent a bucket of golf balls to Matt Lauer to congratulate him on his new deal to remain at NBC's Today. But the game for ratings leadership will only get more intense.
Lauer's new agreement keeps him in the coanchor chair of the morning show for...
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Katie Couric and Josh Elliott
One lesson learned in this wearying week of morning-show warfare: Some people should never give up their dream day job. Which is why it was so gratifying for the week to end with the announcement that Today's Matt Lauer was staying put for years to come. I'd like to think he saw the future — or maybe Today's future — staring at him on Wednesday, when he sat across from...
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Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson
Those writing about the inexorably declining ratings of American Idol will have to stand down for at least a day as the amateur talent competition stayed even with last week in the industry-prized 18-to-49 demographic, according to preliminary Nielsen figures.
Now, we'll have to see if the cliff-hanger involving the hopeful who fainted and fell off the stage gooses the ratings for Fox. (By comparison, fair or not, NBC's The Voice grabbed 17.69 million viewers with a 6.6 demo rating Monday night on its first regularly scheduled airing.)
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Mariska Hargitay
One of the better things about a good episode of NBC's stalwart Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is that you can rarely tell where it's headed. Is tonight's cameo-heavy hour (10/9c) the latest condemnation of reality TV's sordid excesses? Sure looks that way at the start, as we encounter an especially slimy Michael McKean (relishing his repulsiveness) as the predatory producer of a crap-tastic train wreck titled Showgirls, featuring young hopefuls who would do "whatever it takes" to land the starring role in a Broadway musical. (No small irony this is airing the week of the all-important-to-NBC Smash premiere, where such things could never happen!) As he liquors up a nervous contestant for her "audition," he leers for her to "seduce the audience. Let them know you want this." Doesn't take a genius to know where this is going.
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Ryan Seacrest
America could soon be waking up to Ryan Seacrest. After months of rumors that NBC execs were exploring hiring the American Idol host as an eventual replacement for Matt Lauer on Today, significant conversations are now taking place about making it happen as part of a larger deal between Seacrest and NBC parent company Comcast.
While the mention of Seacrest's name is likely to make TV-news purists cringe, Today has a history of hiring anchors without serious...
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Natalie Morales
Natalie Morales is the newest addition to NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.
The Today show news anchor joins an already impressive roster of correspondents for the weekly newsmagazine debuting on Halloween, including...
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Brian Williams
Constructing the new multimillion-dollar studio for NBC's upcoming newsmagazine show Rock Center With Brian Williams has been a TV version of an archaeological dig. "We've found a piece of the set from the soap opera The Doctors," says Williams. "And an old applause sign from when they did live TV there."
Uncovering remnants of the past in the Rockefeller Center location seems fitting, as Williams' newsmagazine sounds like a bit of a throwback as well. Rock Center (expected to be the first replacement on the schedule when one of NBC's new fall shows falters) will have two or three ambitious, deeply reported stories each hour, following the model of 60 Minutes. NBC News even enlisted former 60 Minutes producer Rome Hartman to put together a team that shares that show's sensibility. "He's assembled an army," says Williams, who will anchor the live program while remaining at NBC Nightly News. "In the world of producers and correspondents, this is going to be Cooperstown."
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Lester Holt
Lester Holt has been named the new anchor of Dateline NBC, the network announced Monday.
Holt, who was previously a Dateline correspondent, will replace Ann Curry, who has...
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Meredith Vieira
Meredith Vieira has joined Brian Williams' upcoming newsmagazine, Rock Center, NBC News announced Tuesday.
The former Today anchor will act as a special correspondent for the primetime news show, and will also...
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Ann Curry and Matt Lauer
Ann Curry felt like Cinderella on her first day as Today co-anchor.
"I'm Ann Curry and I'm in for ... I guess, nobody this morning. Me, myself and I. I can't believe it. It's such a thrill ... I really feel like Cinderella. Ann Curry aka Cinderella," she said to viewers on Thursday morning's show.
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