Don't just blame Matt Lauer for 'Today' dip
Matt Lauer attends the "Today" show 60th anniversary celebration at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. (Jan. 12, 2012) Credit: AP
The media have been pounding on Matt Lauer -- a front-page story last week in The New York Times; tabloid reports about his imminent ouster -- but what's really going on with the great "Today" slump??
First, Lauer is not the reason for the collapse of "Today." Oh, sure, as the $25-million man, he must shoulder some of the blame -- that's what he gets paid for. But he's not the only reason.
Let's go to the bullets:
What's happening now has been gradual viewer abandonment. In fact, viewers had been dropping steadily ever since Curry became co-anchor of "Today" in June 2011. Week after week, "Good Morning America" was adding viewers during her run; week after week, "Today" was shedding them. A stark and representative example: Mid-March last year, "Today" was down 12 percent from the same time a year before, and "GMA" was up 4 percent.
Within a month -- April 16, to be exact -- "GMA" won the crown for the first time in 16 years.
So what is conclusion can be drawn from all this?
Simple: More viewers like "Good Morning America" than "Today." Why? Back to the bullets:
