Today (American TV program)
Today (commonly referred to as The Today Show) is a morning news and talk show airing on the NBC television network in the United States. It first aired on January 14, 1952, as a spin off from a morning radio show similarly called Today. The Australian version has aired on that country's Nine Network since 1982. Ironically, the Nine Network's main rival, the Seven Network, tape-delays and broadcasts NBC's Today Show.
When Today started in 1952, it was seen only in the Eastern and Central time zones, broadcasting three hours a morning but seen for only two hours in each time zone. Later, Today aired live for five hours a morning, but it was seen for only two hours in each time zone. Since 1958, Today is tape-delayed for the different time zones. For many years it was a two-hour program from 7:00–9:00 A.M. ET, until NBC expanded it to three hours (7:00–10:00 A.M. Eastern Time/Pacific Time; 6:00–9:00 A.M. Central Time/Mountain Time) on October 2, 2000.
Today was the first of its genre when it first signed on with host Dave Garroway. The show successfully blends national news headlines, in-depth interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks (including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs as the show's mascot during the early years), and local news updates. It has spawned several other shows of a similar type, including ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's The Early Show, and the Canadian series, Canada AM.
The show broadcasts from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Center, New York, just across the street from NBC headquarters at the GE Building. The studio is located right next to the street and many times the hosts do the weather or other events from outside. Today moved to the current streetside studio in the mid-1990s, providing a link to the show's 1950s street-level set at the old RCA Exhibition Hall, also Rockefeller Plaza.
Since the premiere of the 1990s set, the morning shows of each of the major broadcast and cable-news networks has moved streetside -- including two of Today's Rockefeller Center neighbors, Fox News's Fox & Friends and CNN's American Morning. (In summer 2005, CNN reversed the trend, moving its morning show indoors and uptown to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.)
Today was the brainchild of Pat Weaver, who was then vice-president of NBC. He was president of the company from 1953 to 1955 (during which time Today's late-night companion, The Tonight Show , premiered), and then served as chairman of the board for another year.
The show is currently hosted by Katie Couric and Matt Lauer. Al Roker does weather updates and Ann Curry reads news headlines. Gene Shalit is the entertainment critic. Both Roker and Curry have recently started interviewing guests and taking part in other segments in addition to their weather and news duties.
One popular monthly feature is "Spanning the World" with WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman. "Spanning" is a reel of odd and interesting sports highlights from the past month, with a recorded introduction and closing by Don Pardo. This segment also airs on WNBC-TV's NewsChannel 4 at 6PM and 11 PM on a monthly basis.
The hosts of the show include the following: Dave Garroway (1952–1961), John Chancellor (1961–1962), Hugh Downs (1962–1971), Frank McGee and Barbara Walters (1971–1974), Jim Hartz and Barbara Walters (1974–1976), Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley (1976–1982), Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley (1982–1989), Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville (1989–1991), Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric (1991–1997), and Matt Lauer and Katie Couric (1997–present). Joe Garagiola also hosted the show twice, first from 1967-1973 and then again in the early 1990s. Other hosts also served between Deborah Norville and Katie Couric.
There's an early morning version of the show, called Early Today that now airs on NBC's cable counterpart MSNBC and on many NBC affiliates. In 1999, a later version of Today called Later Today was launched with hosts Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson, and Asha Blake; sagging ratings in that final hour caused its cancellation in 2000.
On December 11, 2005, the show marked its 10th year of placing first in the ratings.
Allegations of Feud Between Hosts of Today
Beginning in 2004, there were rumors that the hosts of Today were in the midst of a feud. Reports say that this was due to Katie Couric's prominence in the show and the general perception that she is the only person who can guarantee high ratings for the news program. Some report also suggest that Couric has become a bit too proud (some say obnoxious) because of this, and began to offend Lauer and the rest of the hosts. In addition, a few one-show victories by rival ABC Program Good Morning America has fueled rumors of a feud, and some even went so far to suggest that Couric might be replaced in the near future. Couric has denied these reports, and says she has been rather hurt by them.
This supposed feud was one of the factors (but certainly not the main factor) that led to speculations of Lauer hosting the CBS Evening News as a replacement for Dan Rather. Despite the media attention that surrounds this feud, the reports are speculative, without hard proof.
Weekend Today
The Sunday edition of NBC News' Today premiered on September 20, 1987. Five years later, on August 1, 1992, the Saturday edition made its debut, expanding the broadcast schedule of the Today franchise to seven days a week. The program is broadcast from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The weekend broadcasts continue the Today tradition of covering breaking news, interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular-culture and human-interest stories, covering health and finance issues and presenting the latest weather reports. In addition, the show offers visitors to New York City a chance to observe firsthand the workings of a live television broadcast with its windowed studio on Rockefeller Plaza. Interaction with the crowd outside the studio is a major part of the program.
Weekend editions are tailored to the priorities and interests of weekend viewers—offering special series such as "Saturday Today on the Plaza," featuring live performances by the biggest names in music and Broadway outside the studio throughout the summer.
Jeff Dix is the executive producer of Weekend Today.
Weekend Today is currently hosted by Lester Holt and Campbell Brown with weather reports from Janice Huff on Saturdays and Sean McLaughlin on Sundays. MSNBC's Natalie Morales, Amy Robach, Alison Stewart and Melissa Stark report the daily news headlines from the newsdesk.
The program is watched by more viewers than ABC's Good Morning America Weekend and CBS's Saturday Early Show.