Meredith Vieira Officially Leaving The Today Show
Posted on Thu Apr 28th, 2011 2:45pm PDT By X17 Staff
Meredith Vieira is officially exiting The Today Show according to The Hollywood Reporter.The article says Vieira will leave the show in June, about three months before her contract expires.
Ann Curry will be promoted to co-host and correspondent Natalie Morales will take Curry's place as newsreader.
Vieira joined co-host Matt Lauer in 2006 to replace Katie Couric when she departed the show for the CBS Evening News.
There had been some speculation that Couric, who is now leaving the CBS Evening News as her contract ends, would come back to the show. But Couric said she has plans to start her own multi-platform program.
More on the reasons behind Vieira's departure after the jump.
Today's success is critical for NBC. The show recently celebrated being the top-rated morning news program for more than 800 weeks. The show brings in about half a billion dollars in ad revenue annually for the weekday morning hours alone.
Vieira had been considering leaving the show for a while, but made her decision this week.
Two weeks ago, Today executive producer Jim Bell told The Hollywood Reporter that he was hopeful Vieira would stay.
The Today team is currently in London covering the royal wedding.
Vieira still hosts Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
