NBC ‘Today’ Show Gets a Harsh Wake-Up Call

When Jim Bell takes over as the new executive producer of NBC’s “Today” show next week, he will inherit a broadcast that has led the morning pack for nine years.

But Bell, the veteran NBC sports producer who was tapped for the job Wednesday, had still better pick up the pace.

The 53-year-old program, which invented the formula for a successful morning news show, is facing a strong challenge from longtime rival “Good Morning America,” which has steadily closed the gap in the ratings since Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer began co-anchoring the ABC program in 1999.

Six years ago, “Good Morning America” trailed “Today” by more than 3 million viewers. Last week, it lagged behind the front-runner by an average of just 350,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. CBS’ “The Early Show,” which had long trailed in third place, also has seen an uptick in viewers.

At stake is more than just the mantle of No. 1. The early-morning network news shows are among the few that are gaining viewers, thus making them essential profit centers -- especially the top-rated morning show, which can charge advertisers a steep premium.

“Today,” which has beat out its competition for the last 468 weeks, brings in an estimated $300 million a year and is the most profitable program for General Electric’s NBC.

The advances of Walt Disney Co.’s ABC morning show have alarmed NBC executives, including NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker, who first gained prominence as “Today’s” whiz-kid executive producer in the 1990s. In recent months, he has kept a closer eye on the show, even stopping by the studio a few times.

On Tuesday, Zucker and News President Neal Shapiro fired “Today” executive producer Tom Touchet, who had run the broadcast since November 2002. He was the third producer to lead the show in the last four years.

“Everybody has great respect for the determination and hard work Tom put into the job, but at the end of day, the show should be stronger and better,” Shapiro said in an interview, acknowledging that he and Zucker were unhappy with the decline in the ratings.

“It needed to innovate more; it needed to be more dynamic,” he said, adding that he and Zucker ultimately asked, “Where’s the next breakthrough?”

On Wednesday, in a staff meeting at the Rockefeller Plaza studio, Shapiro introduced Bell as Touchet’s successor. The meeting was attended by “Today” co-anchors Katie Couric and Matt Lauer.

Shapiro also brought on MSNBC executive Phil Griffin, a popular longtime producer who worked as a writer/producer at “Today” in the 1980s, as a senior vice president in charge of the morning show.

Don Nash, former executive producer of “Weekend Today,” is running operations until they take over next week.

It remains to be seen whether the new leadership team put together by Shapiro and Zucker can regain NBC’s strong ratings lead.

“Today’s” viewership has dropped about 5% since last season, to an average of about 6 million daily viewers, while “Good Morning America” is not only cutting into NBC’s lead, it is attracting new viewers. It has enjoyed a boost of 22% over last year, drawing an average daily audience of 5.36 million.

“The competition is fiercer than it’s ever been, and I think everybody is likely to become even more aggressive,” said Joe Angotti, a former NBC News executive who now heads the broadcast department at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Analyst Andrew Tyndall, who monitors network news, agreed. “It’s the only time left during the day where the cable channels have failed to erode the ancient dominance that network television used to have all the time,” he said.

That translates into large advertising revenues. “Today” now pulls in a profit that rivals that of the rest of the network divisions combined, according to trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable.

“Morning programs really do contribute a huge amount of money to the running of broadcast networks,” said Richard Wald, a former NBC News president and ABC News executive who teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. “They are precious. Any wobble in them is serious business.”

“Today” also is one of NBC’s preeminent brands, and the show’s reign as most popular morning program has provided much-needed solace to a network that lost its first-place perch in prime time this season among viewers age 18 to 49, the demographic most prized by advertisers.

Some credit ABC’s prime-time resurgence with boosting “Good Morning America.” As the theory goes, viewers keep watching the same channel in the morning that was on the night before. ABC’s prime-time successes also gave the network a raft of new stars to promote on the morning show.

“When you’ve led for as long as the ‘Today’ show, sometimes part of your audience might get a little restless and want to try something new,” said Steve Friedman, who produced the NBC morning show for 11 years. “But I would venture to say that a good chunk of the change this year can be attributed to [ABC’s] ‘Desperate Housewives,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Lost’ and ‘Alias.’ ”

ABC News executives disputed the notion that “Good Morning America” has gained on the backs of the network’s prime-time programs. Ben Sherwood, the show’s executive producer, said the show began picking up viewers long before this season and attributed its success to a combination of factors, including the pairing of Gibson and Sawyer.

“The fact that they are having more fun than ever, they’re more engaged than ever, they’re more committed to the program than ever translates into an experience for more and more viewers that feels urgent, exciting and relatable,” he said.

Sherwood also credited the production staff, calling them “a merry band of warriors who want to win.” In addition, he said, the show delivers a “faster pace, more urgent, more relevant” program than its competitors.

Over at NBC, Bell dismissed ABC’s increase in viewers.

“Look, it’s No. 2,” he said of the rival broadcast. “You’d have to ask them why they’re still No. 2.” By contrast, the new executive producer said “Today” “is the gold standard and will remain so.”

That said, Shapiro, Bell’s boss, said Wednesday that he expected significant alterations to the broadcast’s look and content. Bell -- who previously produced NBC Sports coverage of the Olympics, football, basketball and tennis -- said he planned to spend a few weeks learning how the show works before making any changes.

“My assessment now is that the ‘Today’ show remains, as ever, the best show on morning TV,” he said. “I know how important it is to keep the tradition of it, but also to be the trend setter, the one that comes up with new ideas. That’s the mission.”