‘Today’ Debacle Cost $20 Million, Gartner Says : Tailspin: NBC News president acknowledges ‘gaffes’ and ‘screw-ups.’

How much in dollars and cents has the much-publicized “Today” show debacle--including the decision to dump co-anchor Jane Pauley for Deborah Norville--cost NBC and its affiliates?

About $20 million, NBC News President Michael Gartner said at a press conference in Los Angeles Wednesday.

Gartner opened the press conference by acknowledging “gaffes” and “screw-ups” in his handling of “Today” last year, especially in the transition last December from Pauley to Norville as Bryant Gumbel’s co-anchor.

When asked to put a price tag on the ratings tailspin “Today” went into after Pauley left, Gartner said, “By the end of the year it will have cost me in the neighborhood of $10 million.” That’s also the amount he estimated that NBC affiliates would lose.

These figures represent the difference between what NBC and its affiliates are able to charge advertisers for commercials during the second-place “Today” show, compared to what they were getting for commercials last December, when “Today” was in first place.

Referring to the mistake NBC made with Norville, Gartner said, “We just threw her in and expected her to be Jane.”

Meanwhile, the first of a series of Pauley specials, “Real Life With Jane Pauley,” easily won its time period Tuesday night against two reruns, Nielsen audience estimates showed.

Pauley’s one-hour show averaged a 13.5 rating, handily beating the second hour of CBS’ repeat of the TV movie “The Gambler III,” which had a 10.3 rating. ABC’s rerun of a “thirtysomething” was a distant third, averaging a 6.9 rating, according to A. C. Nielsen Co.

Each ratings point represents 921,000 homes.