Curry out as ‘Today’ co-host
BY RITA SHERROW World Television Writer
Friday, June 29, 2012
Ann Curry bids a tearful goodbye to “Today.”
Ann Curry put an end to speculation
and told her viewers she is leaving
“Today."
“Today is going to be my last morning
as a regular co-host of ‘Today,’ ” said
Curry, who was joined on set Thursday
by co-anchor Matt Lauer, weatherman
Al Roker and news reader Natalie Morale.
“This is not how I expected to ever
leave this couch after 15 years."
“I will still be a part of the ‘Today’
show family, but I’m going to have a
new title and a new role,” Curry said on
Thursday’s broadcast."“I am so grateful,
especially to all of you who watch because
Matt and I and everyone who sits
on this couch, we often call ourselves
a family,” she said."“They’re giving me
some fancy new titles which essentially
means that I’m going to get tickets to
every big story we want to cover with
a terrific team of my choosing … I love
all of you, especially all of you who are
behind the scenes, behind the cameras."
Under her new multi-year contract,
as “Today” show anchor-at-large and
NBC News national/international correspondent,
she will head up a sevenperson
unit covering stories across the
globe from the bloody uprising in Syria
to the poor in America and will produce
network specials and stories from
“NBC Nightly News,” “Dateline,” “Rock
Center With Brian Williams” and other
digital properties.
It’s a dream opportunity, she told USA
Today in an interview Wednesday, but
she will find leaving “Today” difficult.
“In my secret heart of hearts, I see this
as a thrilling opportunity,” she told the
newspaper."“To have a ticket to every big
story in the world — no small matter."
Curry, who has been with the show
for 15 years and was promoted to coanchor
with Lauer one year ago, said in
the interview that she was emotional
about the news she would be delivering
to viewers this morning.
“I’m going to have to tell our viewers,”
Curry, 55, told the publication."“That’s
what makes me more emotional than
anything."I don’t want to leave them."I
love them."And I will really miss them."
Her announcement came amid
rampant reports that she was being
ousted due to low ratings and lack of
chemistry with Lauer."“Good Morning
America” beat “Today” in the ratings
several times this spring, breaking a 16-
year winning streak."“Today” has since
won the ratings the past three weeks,
according to the story.
Those reports and headlines were
hurtful, she said in the USA Today
interview.
“I don’t know who has been behind
the leaks, but no question they’ve hurt
deeply,” she said, adding she would
have wanted to be given more time
to work out the kinks of co-hosting
the morning news show and did not
agree that chemistry with Lauer was a
problem.
“You know, Matt and I have had great
on-air chemistry for 14 years, been part
of the No."1 winning team for a historymaking
number of years,” she said.
“That said, I just finished my freshman
year as co-host."In every single cohost’s
first year, there have been kinks
to be worked out, and perhaps I deserve
as much blame for that as anyone."
She also said reports of her salary
being $10 million to $20 million are
exaggerated.
“I can say that I’d love to earn that
much,” she said in the interview.
Curry, well-known for putting a human
face on world stories, said on the
show that she realizes the abruptness of
her departure.
“For all of you who saw me as a
groundbreaker, sorry I couldn’t get the
ball over the finish line, but, man, I did
try,” said Curry, her voice cracking.
Curry said she will take time off, wrap
up several stories already in the works
and next report from the Summer
Olympics in London."Her main goal, she
said, is always to serve the viewers.
“You are why I’ve ventured into
dangerous places, interviewed dictators,
jumped off of bridges and mountains and
landed in the South Pole,” Curry said.
“I have loved you and I’ve wanted to
give you the world, and I still do."
NBC’s legal analyst and former
White House correspondent Savannah
Guthrie has reportedly been offered
the position, but the network has not
confirmed the move.
Rita Sherrow 918-581-8360
rita.sherrow@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Ann Curry announced Thursday she will no longer be co-anchor at NBC’s “Today” morning show. VIRGINIA SHERWOOD/NBC
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