Despite reports of a potential ax due to poor ratings, Matt Lauer is not getting fired from the "Today." According to a report, the 54-year-old stands to lose his cushy $25 million-a-year salary if the morning show's ratings does not increase by February, 2013. However, "Today" executive Alexandra Wallace has come forward to deny the claims. "There is absolutely no truth to this," Wallace told New York Post. "There have been some recent outrageous claims regarding Matt and the 'Today' show, and an awful lot of piling on from nameless, faceless sources. These stories are wrong and irresponsible."

Former "Today" anchor Ann Curry is reportedly feeling "vindicated" as the ratings decline continue for the NBC morning show. "Ann feels completely vindicated by the 'Today' show's poor ratings since she left," a source told Radar Online. "She feels she was fired completely unfairly and wasn't given a fair shot at the gig." The 55-year-old's comments were revealed after NBC flew "Today" show host Hoda Kotb to cover the Olympics in a last-minute decision to help boost the network's ratings. Kotb joined Savannah Guthrie and her co-hosts Matt Lauer, Natalie Morales and Al Roker in London. "Ann feels she was made a scapegoat by the network and that it's the whole show that needed an overhaul, not her replacing," added the source. "Ann believes that point has been proved by the show's ratings declining even further since she left."

In a bitter blow to NBC bosses, Savannah Guthrie’s debut as Matt Lauer’s co-anchor on Today failed to win a ratings victory coming in behind rival Good Morning America.

Savannah Guthrie sat in Ann Curry's old co-anchor seat in Studio 1A this morning on the “Today” show, co-hosting the first two hours of the show sitting next to Matt Lauer.