Matt Lauer 'TODAY' Show Exit - To Follow Ann Curry? NBC to Replace Anchor After $25 Million Contract Expires in 2014 (REPORT)
Matt Lauer's $25 million contract with TODAY will not be renewed when it expires in 2014, according to a report.
Several staffers from TODAY revealed that Lauer's contract will not be renewed next year due to their loss in the ratings war with ABC's Good Morning America and Lauer's rapidly declining popularity after Ann Curry's departure last year.
The sources shared that in a company meeting held recently they were told, "what matters most is the anchor connection to the audience; what we need to work on is that connection." Lauer was not present in that meeting when the comments were allegedly made last month.
A TODAY staffer said that as the word "connection" was said several times during the meeting, the team knew that NBC was referring to Lauer.
"What they meant was Matt. But no one would say it," a senior member of TODAY personnel told the New York Times.
Lauer will likely be replaced by his younger peers - either Willie Geist, 37 or David Gregory, 42, according to the report.
Lauer's decline in popularity was indicated by his Q score, which is the TV industry's measure of likeability. In September, 2011, when he co-anchored with Curry it was a favorable 19. In January of this year, it plummeted to a 9.
Lauer recently opened up for the first time about Curry's June 2012 tearful exit, which led to her being replaced by Savannah Guthrie.
"I don't think the show and the network handled the transition well. You don't have to be Einstein to know that," Lauer admitted to The Daily Beast. "It clearly did not help us. We were seen as a family, and we didn't handle a family matter well."
