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NBC Launches ‘All-Out Counteroffensive’ to Reclaim ‘Today’ Show’s Morning Advantage

Jan 6, 2014  •  Post A Comment

NBC is starting an “all-out counteroffensive” to take back the ratings crown among morning news programs, airing a promotional campaign for “Today” that will be seen on every media outlet owned by NBC’s parent company, Comcast, reports Bill Carter in The New York Times.

The ads will feature a new tagline, “Rise to Shine.”

Carter writes, “Those words can cover a multitude of meanings for a show that starts at sunup, but the subtext is unmistakable: NBC wants — and surely needs — its flagship news program to rise again.”

The ad campaign comes after a reversal of fortune for the show, which had topped ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the ratings every week for a record 16 years until it shed viewers around the time of its ouster of Ann Curry as co-host, the piece notes.

“GMA,” meanwhile, has gained in the ratings since September 2012.

“The ‘Today’ show is the crown jewel,” Deborah Turness, the new president of NBC News, told The Times. “In my universe it is absolutely No. 1. My priority from the day I walked in the door in August was to rebuild the show and get it back to the top.”

deborah turness.pngDeborah Turness

4 Comments

  1. Permanently replacing Matt would be a step in the right direction. That’s why the women I know stopped watching.

  2. Does that mean NBC is going to fix its Prime? Because so much of the ratings loss in the morning may be due to the smaller audience NBC is promoting Today to at night.

  3. I think it will take a lot more than promos to take the audience back from GMA. The GMA team is alive, real and they have 2 important things going for them: they genuinely LIKE their audience — and they so obviously LIKE each other!
    And a new set isn’t enough to counteract the honest relationships that come across the TV on GMA.

  4. Too little too late? Once panic sets in, watch out! Chaos everywhere! Matt Lauer is too expensive to buyout and I am certain that he has a “pay or play” statement in his contract….

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