Ann Curry Fired: Savannah Guthrie Sits In Her Old Seat With Matt Lauer On NBC Today Show
Savannah Guthrie sat in Ann Curry's old co-host seat at NBC's Studio 1A this morning on the "Today" show.
Guthrie took over the co-hosting role for the first two hours of the show, sitting next to veteran host Matt Lauer. Together they discussed the Colorado wildfires and the fallout from the Supreme Court's ruling supporting President Obama's health-care plan.
NBC has not yet made an official acknowledgement on whether Guthrie was filling a temporary or permanent role, according to the New York Daily News.
The network skipped the traditional opening voiceover announcing the names of the co-hosts, and did not run Guthrie's or Lauer's name on the screen.
Lauer and Guthrie also made no mention of her status at the end of the 7-9 a.m. portion of the show, according to the report.
Guthrie continued to resume her original role as host of the third hour at 9.a.m.
According to the New York Times, a transition is expected to be low-key and with little fanfare. An announcement is expected to come on July 9.
After Ann's tearful reaction to a forced departure following her announcement at the end of yesterday's live show, The New York Times suggests that producers may fear negative backlash from Ann's fans so are making the co-host transition a quiet one.
The turnover is due to NBC fearing major profit losses after ABC's "Good Morning America" took the top spot for the highest rated morning show.
Guthrie , 40, was born in Melbourne, Australia.Her family moved to Arizona two years later. She went on to graduate from Tucson's Amphitheater High School and received a degree in journalism from the University of Arizona. She began working in local news before deciding to become a lawyer.
She graduated from Georgetown's law school and practiced briefly before opting for a job as an analyst for Court TV. In 2007, she joined NBC, and served as a White House correspondent before moving to Today. Last year, she became a co-host on Today's third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker. In that role, she has been a substitute news anchor and main co-host, and has been the chief legal analyst across all NBC platforms.
