Garagiola, Daniels Hired in Attempt to Revive ‘Today’

In a surprise move aimed at reviving its slumping “Today” show, NBC said today that Joe Garagiola, a familiar face from the show’s past, will join Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville as a co-host.

NBC also hired Faith Daniels, co-anchor of the “CBS Morning News” and news segments of “CBS This Morning,” to anchor “NBC News at Sunrise” and the news segments of “Today.”

Garagiola was a host of the show from 1969 to 1973. He will return to the show in June.

The network also announced that Dick Ebersol, who played a leading role in changes that preceded the “Today” drop into second place, is giving up his job as senior vice president in charge of “Today.”

He will stay as president of NBC Sports, the network said.

Ebersol came into the turbulent “Today” picture last year and is widely held responsible for the controversial shift in which Norville succeeded 13-year veteran Jane Pauley as the show’s host in January.

Since then, the once-dominant program has run second in ratings to ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

The new shifts come just three weeks before NBC executives are to face the network’s affiliates at NBC’s annual convention in Washington, where NBC News President Michael Gartner will likely hear complaints.

“It is no secret that in recent months ‘Today’ has been through some troubled times,” Gartner said in a statement today. He said the latest moves were designed “to expand the cast and build on the strengths of the program.”