Ann Curry Makes Farewell Speech – Leaving NBC’s Today Show

Ann Curry, who after years on the news anchor desk replaced Meredith Vieira as a co-host of the Today Show on NBC with Matt Lauer, has been abruptly dismissed from the show. According to reports, the network feels that Curry is the reason for the drop in ratings as morning show rival ABC’s “Good Morning America” has seen their ratings climb to become a close tie with NBC.

The Neilsen ratings company currently has the Today show down by about 4% from last year, while Good Morning America is up 4%. The two show are only about 300,000 viewers apart, with the Today show still holding the small lead.

In a report from the LA Times, Andrew Tyndall, a TV news consultant and analyst, said, “Comcast knows that news and sports are the only NBC properties that are going to make money for them.” Tyndall continued, “While NBC does not break out numbers for “Today,” people close to the show have pegged its profitability in the $200-million to $250-million range annually. The first two hours of “Today,” which are the most vital, generate about $500 million in annual advertising revenue.”

During her at times tearful farewell speech on the Today show this morning, Ann Curry said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line.” As for who will replace Curry on the show, the network has not commented. Current rumors however, point to Savannah Guthrie who currently cohosts the third hour of the Today show.

Given Curry’s time with the network and her years with the Today show, the transition has been very poorly handled according to analysts. A far cry from the respectful transition from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News, or when Today Co-host Katie Couric left the show for CBS.