Hoda Kotb - TVNewser

‘Today’ Execs Tried to ‘Nudge Curry Off the Co-Host Track’ as Early as 2003

Merrill Knox — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:32:22 +0000

The first excerpts of Brian Stelter‘s upcoming book Top of the Morning, went online this morning, and will be featured in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, ahead of Tuesday’s publication. This excerpt takes a deep dive into the “dysfunction” at “Today” that led to Ann Curry‘s forced departure from the show last June. Curry was named the show’s co-host in 2011, but discussions about moving her off the show were happening long before, something Stelter told us in our Media Beat interview (running next week on TVNewser). As far back as 2003, Stelter writes, “executives were already trying to nudge Curry off the co-host track:”

They saw that she and Lauer, who had hosted together dozens of times, demonstrated a distinct lack of chemistry. “I don’t think anybody back then thought Ann was right,” said Tom Touchet, the executive producer of “Today” at the time, who called her a “wacky chick” with a “great heart.” Neal Shapiro, who succeeded Lack as president of NBC News, suggested that Curry be moved to “Dateline NBC,” the prime-time newsmagazine. “The audience would understand moving to prime time was a great promotion, and there would be no backlash against ‘Today,’’” Shapiro recalled. “By making her a host of ‘Dateline,’ we could open up the news-anchor job on ‘Today’ to someone like Natalie Morales or Hoda Kotb” and start publicly grooming another successor for Couric.

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Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb Celebrate Five Years At ‘Today’

Alex Weprin — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:49:41 +0000

On Friday Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb celebrated five years of the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today.” In honor of the anniversary, the pair looked back at some highlights from the first five years.

WATCH:

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The Ticker: Access, Iraq, Hoda

Alex Weprin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:19:24 +0000

Saturday at 3 PM, CNN and Turner Sports will air a one-hour special tied to the Final Four. “CNN All Access at the Final Four” will be hosted by Rachel Nichols and Reggie Miller. Turner Sports and CBS Sports share the TV rights to the March Madness tourney.

The American Journalism Review looks at the anniversary of the Iraq war, and talks to foreign correspondents, including Fox News contributor and former foreign correspondent Dominic Di-Natale.

The NBC rumor of the day: is Hoda Kotb looking for another job? Entertainment Weekly‘s James Hibberd says that Kotb has been taking meetings with other media companies, though it doesn’t sound like a departure is imminent.

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Hoda Kotb And Kathie Lee Gifford Talk Personal Grooming: ‘We are fired on Monday’

Alex Weprin — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 14:45:03 +0000

The “Today” show’s fourth hour has always been freewheeling, dependent on the chemistry between Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. On Friday, however, the show reached a new pinnacle.

Or as Kotb said at the NBC News upfront last week:

“We are saving our very best pinch me moment for tomorrow’s show. I don’t want to oversell it, but I would advise you to check out tomorrow’s show, and we are fired on Monday.”

Yes, the segment was pre-taped, but that doesn’t really matter. Watch as the pair talk–for nine minutes–about grooming “down there.”

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Tension During The Fourth Hour Of ‘Today’?

Alex Weprin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:02:31 +0000

The fourth hour of “Today” is a very different beast than the first three hours, focusing less on news and more on banter between the hosts, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. The banter is usually playful and fun, however TMZ alleges that things have been getting testy lately.

At issue is this: Gifford apparently wants to host the show from LA, while Kotb wants to stay in New York.

Our sources say Hoda felt the heat was off when Kathie Lee started doing her Broadway show … she thought Kathie Lee might get off the whole L.A. thing. But when the show wrapped in December, Kathie Lee immediately started pushing again for an L.A. move.

An NBC spokesperson told The Huffington Post that the story was bunk:
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Hoda Kotb on Life ‘Working Out the Way It’s Supposed to’

Alissa Krinsky — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:00:01 +0000

In a business known for big egos and petty jealousies, Hoda Kotb is a dose of Zen.

Life “is working out the way its supposed to work out,” Kotb tells TVNewser, reflecting on her 15th anniversary with NBC News. Co-anchoring the fourth hour of Today with Kathie Lee Gifford “fits like a puzzle piece, it just clicks…The show is a great place for me, and a happy place.”

It’s a gig she actively sought out. “I was always the one who waited to be noticed in life,” she reflects. But surviving cancer gave her a different perspective. The same year of her diagnosis – 2007 – she decided to ask management for the fourth-hour job. “And I remember how small it felt, how little and insignificant after what I’d been through. I believe today that if I hadn’t gotten sick…I wouldn’t have had the guts to ask for it.”

The ability to appreciate life, to feel “joyful” as she says, also was the motivation behind her new book, Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives.

The tome features the stories of six people for whom adversity brought a silver lining. Kotb lives the lesson. When she walks in to 30 Rock each morning, “I feel blessed and lucky.”

And that means she doesn’t pine for Savannah Guthrie‘s position. A Guthrie fan, Kotb says she did not lobby for that spot when it opened up last year, happy with her current gig and continued…

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Happy Holidays! Here’s ‘Dateline’ Correspondent Keith Morrison Reading ‘The Night Before Christmas’

Alex Weprin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:23:52 +0000

Tonight NBC’s primetime newsmagazine “Dateline” is having a “Holiday Survival” special. The special will give gifting advice, office party etiquette and holiday tips from people like Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Bravo’s Andy Cohen. Lester Holt will also interview actor/comedian Nick Cannon.

Update: The special has been postponed due to the shooting in Connecticut.

To help promote the special, the folks at “Dateline” had correspondent Keith Morrision, with his inimitable voice, read Clement Clarke Moore‘s classic A Visit From St. Nicholas, known colloquially as The Night Before Christmas.

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Anderson Cooper Gets Drunk with Hoda and Kathie Lee on his Show: ‘I should never have agreed to this’

Chris Ariens — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:58:48 +0000

Before Anderson Cooper left for the Middle East where he’s been ducking from bombs, he welcomed NBC’s Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford to his syndicated show, which aired Tuesday. Naturally, there was alcohol. And, yes, there was alcohol. “I’m drunk. It’s sad but true,” said Cooper. “During the break, I’m like eating chicken. Kathie Lee keeps saying to me, ‘do you want a breast?’ And I’m like, ‘Sweetie, no.’”

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Inside the Book Party for Melissa Francis’ Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter

Chris Ariens — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:55:51 +0000

Melissa Francis jokes that she wants to be writer when she grows up. The Fox Business Network anchor is already on her second career. And with the publication of her memoir, “Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter,” she’s on her way to fulfilling that adulthood dream. Francis was feted last night at Astra, an event space overlooking Manhattan’s East River. The memoir is a brutally honest, sometimes painful, yet touching story of life as a child actor. After dozens of commercials, her first big break came on “Little House on the Prairie.”

In a Media Beat interview this summer Francis told us the book, includes “the typical family dramas, set against the backdrop of a very unusual childhood.”

But last night, no drama, just celebrating. Among the guests, FNC/FBN c0-founder and chairman Roger Ailes, FBN EVP Kevin Magee, anchors Neil Cavuto, Liz Claman, Lori Rothman, Cheryl Casone, Elizabeth MacDonald, Tracy Byrnes, Sandra Smith, Nicole Petallides, Tom Sullivan and Dennis Kneale.

From FNC, we spotted Bill Hemmer and chatted with Megyn Kelly about election night, and the moment that took her from the studio through the bowels of Fox News to the decision desk as they explained calling Ohio for Pres. Obama, giving him the election and giving Karl Rove agita. Following many long months of election coverage and, more recently, of Hurricane Sandy, which left her without power for a week, Kelly was looking forward to taking today off.

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Puppy Slips Out of Kathie Lee Gifford ‘s Arms and Onto Its Head

Chris Ariens — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:08:28 +0000

Kathie Lee Gifford just wanted to hold that little puppy in her arms today, but the dog had other ideas.

During an animal adoption segment in the 10am hour, Gifford was handed the dog, said “Puppy needs a bath,” then it slithered out of her hands and onto its head. “Puppy took a nose dive,” added Hoda Kotb.

Gifford picked up the god and then poses for the picture, right. “I’m sorry I dropped you,” said Gifford.

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Willie Geist Could Use Some Sleep

Alex Weprin — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:33:09 +0000

MSNBC anchor Willie Geist–who just completed two weeks of live Olympics coverage from London–could probably use a little rest. Yesterday Geist anchored his 5:30 am show “Way Too Early,” followed by “Morning Joe” where he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod. In the 10 AM hour he walked over to the “Today” studio for a segment with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.

I assume he crawled under a desk somewhere to get some sleep, because 12 hours later, during the 10PM hour, he had a segment on “Rock Center,” which included a live studio segment with Brian Williams. Just a few hours later this morning he was filling in for Matt Lauer on “Today,” before making one more trip to the show’s fourth hour to talk to Kotb and Gifford.

That is appearances or anchor duties on six different shows in just over 24 hours. Not too shabby.

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Is Hoda Kotb An Emergency ‘Today’ Olympics Replacement? In A Word: No

Alex Weprin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:09:05 +0000

The New York Daily News splashed NBC “Today” anchors Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on its front page this morning, featuring a story about the pair prominently on page three. The story claims that NBC was not pleased with Guthrie’s performance last week on “Today,” and is flying in Kotb to help bolster the show as a result. It also claims that the decision to send Kotb was made last Thursday, and that she was supposed to be on vacation this week.

But “they’re just shoehorning her into the show to help bring it alive,” the source added. “They called Hoda on Thursday begging her to go to London because they said it wasn’t working like they thought.”

There is just one little problem with the story: Kotb was always supposed to be contributing to NBC’s Olympics coverage in London. Kotb and her fourth-hour co-host Kathie Lee Gifford even talked the upcoming trip on “Today” almost two weeks ago. You can watch the video below.

Update: An NBC News spokesperson tells me:

“It is well-known that Hoda was traveling to London to participate in the TODAY show’s Olympic coverage because we announced it on our show three weeks ago. She planned to spend a few days in London covering fun Olympic stories, and she talked about it on the show several times. In fact, we started a well-publicized Facebook campaign on July 9 asking viewers for suggestions on what types of stories she should do at the Games. Hoda will be in London through this Thursday.”

As references, on July 9, Facebook fans of the fourth hour could vote on what Kotb should do when she goes to the Olympics.

They announced the contest–and the fact that Kotb would be going–on July 10. Video of that is after the jump:

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Kathie Lee Gives a Little RESPECT, and Apology, to Aretha Franklin

Chris Ariens — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:48:50 +0000

Aretha Franklin says she’d be a good judge on “American Idol,” despite what Kathie Lee Gifford thinks.

On Tuesday’s FHOT, Gifford suggested Franklin is too old to judge the FOX singing competition.

“If they are looking for a younger demographic, there are a lot of kids out there (who) actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t,” Gifford said.

In an email sent to CNN’s Roland Martin, the Queen of Soul demanded a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and research.

While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong! I’m surprised Kathie Lee did not research my worldwide celebrity audience! She’s usually right on top of things with a great sense of humor, but she’s totally wrong this time. She should research me before she speaks about me. I’m sure she thought she was right; still enjoy Hoda and Kathie Lee!

So this morning Kathie Lee apologized and clarified, “There is nobody in the world like her. My point was there is a whole generation of kids, some kids don’t know who Barbara Streisand is, who Frank Sinatra is…”

“She’s still mad at you,” added Hoda Kotb.

The lesson here: next time Kathie Lee, “You better THINK!”

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Which Job Was Hoda Kotb Up For at ‘Today’?

Alex Weprin — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:43:45 +0000

There was a very curious moment on the fourth hour of “Today” this morning, during a segment which saw Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford discussing competition among friends when a job becomes available. In an unscripted moment, Gifford talked about being happy for Kotb when she was up for a job recently…

WATCH:

Rachel Sklar caught the comment, and posted about it at Change the Ratio:

HODA: What if you’re in a business, and there’s one job that comes open, and you and your friend are both -

KATHIE LEE: Well that has recently happened around here and I was extremely happy for you!

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‘CBS This Morning,’ ‘Today’s Professionals’ Talk Anderson Cooper

Alex Weprin — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:06:57 +0000

Two of the morning shows have acknowledged Anderson Cooper‘s gay acknowledgment.

“CBS This Morning’s” Erica Hill, a friend of Cooper’s from her days at CNN, discussed his coming out with country music artist Chely Wright, who revealed two years ago that she’s gay. Video after the jump.

ABC’s overnight show “World News Now,” which Cooper once anchored, gave it a mention as did the pre-GMA show, “America This Morning.” “Good Morning America” didn’t.

On NBC’s “Today,” Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford talked about it on the 4th hour. “He is a sweet guy,” said Gifford. “We just wish everybody to be happy.”

It also was the subject earlier on “Today’s Professionals.” The panelists, Star Jones, Donny Deutsch and Dr. Nancy Snyderman, all seemed to take the cynical route, arguing that Cooper made the announcement for some sort of ratings gain. They seemed to be unaware that his daytime talk show is on hiatus, and that Cooper is in Africa on assignment, not hosting his CNN program.

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