A memo to Today Show staffers:

From: Phil Griffin

To: @NBC Today Show

Subject: Note from Phil Griffin

To the TODAY staff,

Change is never easy. It's even more difficult for a program that has enjoyed such success. About eight months ago this place was rocked - thrown completely off balance when a new team was put in charge, and GMA was nipping on the most impressive winning streak in television history. Ouch! The daily grind of putting on a three hour program is hard enough. Then, headlines broke that our margin of victory fell to 40-thousand households one week during May sweeps. I don't have to tell you how hard April and May were on everybody.

But to your credit, TODAY went about its business. From the day in early June when we devoted most of the first hour to the story about "Deep Throat", to Matt's headline-grabbing interview with Tom Cruise, to our coverage of the London Bombings, we got our groove back. All of that set the stage for the news division's ground breaking coverage of Hurricane Katrina. TODAY stood out: Katie live on the scene from the hurricane zone and the Astrodome; Matt with the President in Covington, Louisiana, and of course, our uplifting efforts on Humanity Plaza here at Rockefeller Plaza. In November we showed enterprise with our interesting series devoted to faith, and medicine. And Matt helped us with a stronger than ever finish with a spectacular week circling the globe.

(The rest of the memo is after the jump...)


There are hundreds of stories that you've worked around the clock to cover. Led by Katie, Matt, Al and Ann, our outstanding new executive producer, Jim Bell, as well as our first rate weekend team of Campbell, Lester, and Alex we demonstrated to the competition and the audience that TODAY is simply the best. One recent headline says it all:

NBC NEWS' "TODAY" ENTERS ITS 11TH YEAR OF WINNING WITH A TREMENDOUS 1.3 MILLION HOUSEHOLD LEAD OVER GMA

All of you should read that and smile. Happy Holidays and I look forward to a great 2006.

Phil