Matt Lauer Pay Cut: 'TODAY' Anchor's $25 Million Will Decline Along With Ratings
Matt Lauer's pay check will take a hit along with his popularity rating and the "TODAY" show ratings.
Lauer will be expected to take a significant pay cut if "TODAY" ratings continue to go south.
"Matt Lauer will be asked to take a significant cut in his $25 million salary if 'TODAY' doesn't win the key November sweeps," a source told RadarOnline. "The May and November sweeps dictate how much the networks can charge for advertising and they are extremely important to the bottom line. The 'TODAY' show had always been a cash cow for NBC, generating hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue."
Recently, however, "TODAY" has not been the top morning show, making executives question Lauer's salary, which happens to be the highest among the hosts.
"Comcast, which now owns NBC Universal, is going through the budgets of each show and right now, they are focusing on the news division," the RadarOnline source said. "Matt's salary is the biggest part of the 'TODAY' show's budget and with Good Morning America now routinely beating them, it's just hard to justify that salary."
But Lauer can't be forced to take a pay cut; he will just be asked to.
"Matt is under contract so it will have to be a voluntary decision, but the argument will be made that if he doesn't agree to lose some of his salary then people's jobs will have to be cut. Bottom line is money will have to be saved somewhere and he will be asked to do the 'right thing' by his staff."
Lauer's "likability" has decreased by 25 percent over the past year, according to Q Scores, an influential factor that helps companies decided where to advertise.
"Is it only 25 percent? Because it actually feels much worse," Lauer said in response to the report (via The New York Daily News.)
In the beginning of the year, Meredith Vieira left her spot next to Lauer, and was replaced by Ann Curry (who was terminated after only one year) and was then joined by Savannah Guthrie. (Lauer has been blamed for Curry's departure.)
"It raises a flag," Henry Schafer, Executive Vice President of Q Scores, told The New York Daily News. "These morning shows are driven by personalities - so there's a real challenge out there for NBC News."
"TODAY" employees "are extremely nervous that there are going to be lay-offs, and no one believes for one second that Matt will go along with a pay cut. Matt's contract is iron-clad and he can't be forced to take a pay cut," the insider told RadarOnline.
According to The New York Daily News, the "TODAY" show spokeswoman Megan Kopf denied that NBC looked into Lauer's appeal and declined to comment on his declining Q score.
