Matt Lauer’s Popularity Decline Blamed On Twitter
Matt Lauer has been declared the culprit behind the Today show’s ratings slump by many, but NBC News President Steve Capus points the blame in another direction: Twitter. During an interview with The Daily Beast, Capus praised the $25-million-a-year morning television show host for his news coverage.
The NBC News president had this to say about why he believes Matt Lauer has been unfairly targeted as a ratings wet blanket:
“Sadly, this is the era in which we live. Venomous tweets somehow threaten to drown out all of those who praised Matt for his coverage. The Twitter snarkiness is an unfortunate result of misdirected anger that’s been unfairly placed on Matt. There has also been a lot of mean-spirited piling-on, which has been manufactured by many anonymous sources.”
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Good Morning America replaced the Today show in the top spot among morning news shows. The dip in Today’s ratings came not long after Ann Curry’s sudden exit from the couch. Capus acknowledged that the 54-year-old morning show host faced a plethora of backlash after Curry left. The network executive does not believe the angst is warranted. Capus had this to say about Lauer’s role in cast selection:
“He does not make those types of decisions. There has been an incredible amount of misplaced blame on Matt.”
An unnamed Radar Online source claims that the transition after Ann Curry was essentially forced off the Today couch really hurt the show. The source, which is supposedly an executive at NBC, allegedly maintains that Matt Lauer was involved with Curry’s ousting but preferred to have her make a gradual exit and not the quick parting which actually occurred.
