Should NBC consider cutting "Today" back to two hours?

[mgsports]

Theirs a lot of Game Shows on in the Daytime.
Some Court Shows are leaving the air.

Stations will just added more Local Newscast/Shows because cost lesser and more Shows will Debut.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Only one network game show left.

Don't forget the Let's Make a Deal revival.

Re-runs used to be a big part of network daytime schedules but not cable has those locked up.

Syndication probably has more to do with it than cable.

 

[taylorjsdad]

Are any independent NBC affiliates running syndicated programs at 9am or 10am, rather than pseudo-Today? How well do those shows do?

WHDH in Boston runs a newscast.

 

[liradioisbad]

Why do they allow them to pre-record Fridays?? They can't work five days a week? I'll never understand why they allow people who are making millions to only work 4 days. Live with K&M tape Friday's sometimes and every Friday during the summer they pre-tape. Again they can't come in on Fridays because it's summer makes no sense. If I made the contacts and they wanted Fridays off I would just laugh and say well lets cut pay. I mean shouldn't a show with "LIVE" in the title be "LIVE"?

I know the fourth hour was live at least in 2011.

The only reason the fourth hour still has the Today name is probably because of how recognizable it is. Other than that, it is a separate show, where it's common for them to share guests from the first two hours (and sometimes they go from Today to Kelly and Michael and back to Today on the same day).

I don't know if the other two hours make decent money like the first two, though.

And the View was stable? You probably missed them in 2006-2007 after Today raided Meridith and they had Rosie for a year.

And one network game show left? Let's Make a Deal gets no respect.

 

[Bob1370]

The arrangement of the seemingly endless Today Show is proving profitable not only for NBC, which is making a tidy profit on the whole thing even while Matt Lauer is going down in flames, but for the affiliates who don't have to produce or purchase an extra hour or two of programming out of their own pocket, just hook up to the network satellite feed for four hours between 7 and 11 AM ET. Buying an alternate show like Kelly & Michael, Rachael Ray or Dr. Oz costs money. The network show costs only the power bill to keep the transmitter warm, and has local spot availabilities to sell. So while some NBC affiliates do air and sell alternative programming between 9 and 11 local time, don't expect most of them to do it as long as programming is being handed to them on what amounts to a straight barter basis.

But CBS, ABC and Fox stations DO need to make arrangements to fill that 9-11 AM slot, so there will always be alternatives as well.

 

[ding12]

And the View was stable? You probably missed them in 2006-2007 after Today raided Meridith and they had Rosie for a year.

Actually The View ratings were strong when Rosie and Star events were going on, and it was probably stable from the sense that the show wasn't going to be canceled. That said, The View did ramp up back to 5 co-hosts, so I think it'd do that again. It reduces risk having 5 anchors over 4 anchors. They'll probably just be reality and former TV star hosts though filling in the holes, no news journalists, attorneys, etc. - people from actual different backgrounds (besides skin color) and with different views.

Maybe NBC could cancel the 4th hour of Today and launch a copy of The View, and The Talk, called The Opinion, with 5 women co-hosts. I think the 10am timeslot could be a strong slot (better than early afternoon atleast), and if they got the right people, it could do well.

 

[1069_KIFR]

They should expand to a fifth and a sixth hour.

5th hour bring in Deborah Norville and Ann Curry
Hour #6... Rosie O'Donnell and Oprah Winfrey

 

[azumanga]

Theirs a lot of Game Shows on in the Daytime.

Where networks are concerned, there are only two -- "The Price is Right" and "Let's Make a Deal", both on CBS. Everyone else is syndicated, and there are still not much -- "Millionaire", "Family Feud", and repeats of "Jeopardy".

 

[searadiofreak]

The Today Show has become a joke. OK, perhaps they can rescue it.

However, seriously, right now a better idea would give back the time to the NBC affiliates. Seriously. Fox NY has beat them recently.

This would allow disgruntled NBC affiliates a chance to prove themselves, and allow NBC to get their act together. Then, perhaps in a year or two they could come back with a new, improved "Today". Why not? (This will never happen, however intelligent, because of the NBC/Comcast network ego).

 

[bpatrick]

Television is such an imitative medium, I'm surprised NBC hasn't
come up with its version of "The View" and "The Talk." If it did,
I think 10 AM would have to be the only logical timeslot, since
"The View" is on at 11, a lot of affiliates do local news from 12
to 1, "Days Of Our Lives" is going to stay put at 1, and "The Talk"
is on at 2.

The 9-10 AM slot is also becoming attractive for newscasts; there
are Fox stations that are doing it, and I know of at least two CBS
affiliates (Washington and Atlanta) that do it. Short of giving back
9-10, why doesn't NBC revive the 9-10 AM "Later Today" of a few
years back?

Much as I'd like to see it, given that for years NBC was as synonymous
with game shows as CBS (and to an extent, ABC) was with soaps, I
don't think games are in the cards for NBC's future; while they may be
inexpensive to produce, they appeal to the wrong demographic.

 

[Nate Wesley]

The arrangement of the seemingly endless Today Show is proving profitable not only for NBC, which is making a tidy profit on the whole thing even while Matt Lauer is going down in flames, but for the affiliates who don't have to produce or purchase an extra hour or two of programming out of their own pocket, just hook up to the network satellite feed for four hours between 7 and 11 AM ET. Buying an alternate show like Kelly & Michael, Rachael Ray or Dr. Oz costs money. The network show costs only the power bill to keep the transmitter warm, and has local spot availabilities to sell. So while some NBC affiliates do air and sell alternative programming between 9 and 11 local time, don't expect most of them to do it as long as programming is being handed to them on what amounts to a straight barter basis.

Several million reasons why NBC ain't cutting the Today show down to size.

 

[taylorjsdad]

This is the weirdest scheduling of the Today Show I have seen. WFLA-Tampa airs the 4th hour at Noon. They run Extra at 11:00 and a newscast at 11:30. Is this something new?