Is Matt Lauer to Blame for the 'TODAY' Show Ratings Fall?
After rumors began circulating that Alexandra Wallace, senior vice president of NBC News will replace "TODAY" show Executive Producer Jim Bell, a new report claims that management may not be the problem after all.
According to The Daily News, "TV industry insiders say no amount of NBC executive reshuffling can save the embattled 'Today' show - until its longtime co-host throws in the towel."
"This is not going to go away until Matt Lauer does," a prominent former NBC News exec told The Daily News on Tuesday.
"He's great, but fairly or unfairly, his brand is damaged."
After his co-host was fired in June, Lauer was blamed for the morning show's ratings drop. However, Bell defended Lauer and said that Curry's firing "was definitely not Matt's call."
Bell has been producing the show at NBC since 2005 and according to The New York Times, "led the campaign for Curry's removal from the show earlier this year and received much of the blame for the damage done by the transition."
A source close to the situation told Radar Online that Lauer is not taking the news of Bell's replacement too well.
"Matt Lauer is NOT happy that Jim Bell who had been the executive producer of the 'TODAY' show since 2005 has been forced out," the source told Radar Online. "Alexandra Wallace, who will be Bell's replacement, and Matt have never had a good working relationship. Matt doesn't like the fact that Alexandra is a big advocate of Ann Curry's."
The news comes after the "TODAY" show has been consistently beaten in the ratings by ABC's "Good Morning America" after leading for 16-years.
After NBC fired Curry, GMA viewership skyrocketed.
"The fact that Bell is being forced out, and the timing of it during November sweeps shows how desperate NBC executives are for the 'TODAY' show to get back to first place, and quickly," the source said.
