On January 2 of 2018, NBC News made the announcement that Hoda Kotb would be replacing Matt Lauer in his previous role on Today on a permanent basis. This is perhaps unsurprising considering that she has been filling in for him ever since he was booted out because of stories of sexual misconduct in November. However, it is nonetheless welcome news, seeing as how Kotb has more than enough expertise and experience for the role, as shown by her performance in it so far.
What Happens Now?
There are a number of interesting points related to Kotb’s newest role. For example, it should be mentioned that this will be the first time that two women will be serving as Today‘s co-anchors, meaning that this can be seen as a historical moment of sorts. Conventionally, it was thought that a male presence was needed in co-anchors to ensure the best results, but there seems to be no rush from NBC News to find a new male co-anchor at the moment. As a result, it will be interesting to see how Today performs from this point on because whatever happens could well influence future decision-making from not just NBC News but also its counterparts for years and years to come.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how much Kotb will be making with her now role on Today. Unsurprisingly, not much information has been released at this point in time, but some people have speculated that she could end up making around $5 million on an annual basis as a result. This is a lot, but still much lower than what Matt Lauer was making, which was $20 million on an annual basis. Something that can be attributed to his star power as well as the two decades that he spent as the co-anchor of Today. However, what is even more interesting is the fact that Megyn Kelly has been reported to be making more than $20 million on an annual basis, so it will be interesting to see whether there will be any friction from that.
Regardless, it is interesting to note that some people have suggested that Kotb’s new role could be a positive step for NBC News and its counterparts in a performance sense. In part, this is because she is an internal promotion, meaning that choosing her should result in a smoother transition than otherwise possible. Something that is a serious concern whenever lineups change on such TV shows, as shown by the recent case of Kelly. However, it should also be noted that internal promotions seem to be much cheaper than snatching stars from other TV channels, which should be beneficial for the TV channels’ bottom line.
Summed up, Kotb replacing Lauer is positive news. However, it will be even more interesting to see what ripple effects might result from the choice, particularly once they start affecting relevant organizations beyond NBC News. Unfortunately, it will take time for these ripple effects to happen. Furthermore, it will take even more time for those ripple effects to be studied, meaning that interested individuals still have some time to wait.
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