We're Betting on Ann Curry for 'Today' As A Brainiac with Heart

RedTracker| Three cheers! Ann Curry will get a much-deserved slot on the ‘Today’ show, taking over for Meredith Vieira on ‘Today’. Understandably any swap in this cast of characters gives NBC execs heartburn.

NBC has problems galore at night, and the ‘Today’ show is a huge profit center, dominating the morning ranking, being No. 1 each week for 15 years, writes WSJ.

But “Today,” which has been on the air since 1952, faces a mixed competitive picture. Its roughly 700,000 total-viewer lead over ABC’s “Good Morning America” is the thinnest since 2005, according to Nielsen Co. At the same time, this TV season through May 1, it has 38% more viewers between 25 and 54 years old than “Good Morning America,” nearly tying its largest margin that group sold to advertisers in seven years, according to Nielsen.

Natalie Morales, who now co-hosts the third hour of “Today” will take over Ms. Curry’s news anchor role, and NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie will slip into Ms. Morales’s 9 a.m. hosting spot.

The individual personalities have become very important for the networks, now that all the morning shows cover essentially the same content. That’s why we want to weight in on behalf of Ann Curry. If our theory about Smart Sensuality women has an ounce of truth — and we know many of them are at work in the morning — then Ann Curry is a perfect fit for the times.

Ann is bright, a mom, a dedicated tracker of life’s tragic stories — not only the fluff — and one hell of a daredevil. We’re behind her 110% in this transitional moment for the NBC Today show. If she goes down, it will be because America doesn’t value brainiacs.

We’re betting America is ready for Ann Curry.