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Report: One Sticky Issue Is Holding Up Ann Curry’s Exit From NBC’s ‘Today’ as Successor, Now Locked In, Waits in Wings

Jun 26, 2012  •  Post A Comment

A new report says there’s one thing hanging up host Ann Curry’s exit from NBC’s “Today” show, while her successor appears to be locked in.

The hangup, not surprisingly, is money, TMZ.com reports. Meanwhile, Savannah Guthrie has reportedly already made her deal to replace Curry. We reported late last week that Guthrie was at the top of the list of likely replacements.

Curry is reportedly one year into a three-year, $10 million-a-year contract. She and the network are said to be haggling over the balance, with NBC unwilling to cough up the full $20 million left on her contract to buy her out.

TMZ reports: “Sources tell us Ann wants the full $20 mil and her exit papers. NBC wants to pay her $10 mil and give her a foreign correspondent job.”

NBC appears to be motivated to make the move quickly so that Guthrie will be in place by the time the Olympics begin. The report says the objective is to make an announcement by early next week — possibly later this week.

[Correction 6-26-12 at 8:48 am PT with correct per-year salary according to TMZ]

13 Comments

  1. $Tweny mil!?!? Nobody, I mean nobody, should be worth that kind of money for that banal morning junk. For goodness sake, she’s just a news reader. She may be a very nice person, but come on folks, her on-air delivery is like watching pain dry. NBC does it, yet, again…

  2. A contract is a contract. If somebody owed YOU $20 million, and they later decided to fire you… are you going to say “oh that’s ok, you can pay me only half and we’ll forget the rest” ??!!…Ann Curry would be a fool to not hold NBC to their contractual obligation. …And the alleged attempt by NBC to squirrel out of their contractual obligation probably is being driven by the Comcast morons that run NBC now…you know, the same guys that show up at your house, if and when they feel like it, to install your cable.

  3. She’s more than a newsreader. But NBC has treated her badly and they should pay her the full amount. The one who’s not worth it is Katie Couric. Talk about an overpaid newsreader.

  4. NFL player agreements allow a player to be cut and only the amount guaranteed is paid, not the full “contractual value”. So, you have to understand the details of a “contract being a contract” before you can assume who is correct here.

  5. I say go for the $20 mil Ann. Treat NBC the way they treated you. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving network

  6. ITS NBC Don;t trust them!!

  7. I hope Curry holds out for the full 20.. she deserves it, NBC is treating her rottenly . If the Ferangi beancounters don’t like it they should turn the news department back over to real broadcasters.. the beanie weenies have done nothing but ruin the business.

  8. Good for Ann. A contract is a contract, PERIOD! I find it funny how NBC is blaming HER for the in roads that ABC’s “Good Morning America” has made.
    Unfortunately, that program’s momentum may be slowed once the lovely once one of the hosts departs for several months to handle some health issues.
    Yes, in my opinion if both sides agreed to terms and one wants out, then Ann Curry is deserving of what was mutually agreed upon at the time that the contract was signed.
    There is a price to be paid for talent because it seems as though the high priced talent holds much of the liability in salvaging their public image when things go south.
    I would not stay at NBC if I were her.

  9. Agreed. I am certain that there are no 10 million dollar a year “Foreign Correspondents.”
    It is also a different economic scale in the entertainment biz. If a talent or employee is responsible for a corporation deriving hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, then a percentage of that would be millions of dollars for the “news reader” who is responsible for attracting the audience that advertisers want to reach.
    So yes, unfortunately people like Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, Oprah, etc. are “worth it.” Would it not be a crime if they were paid like you and I based on the sheer numbers that their networks and companies derive from their images?

  10. Good Morning America and Today are garbage. People who watch it are morons who like to be spoon-fed garbage.

  11. Split the difference at $15 million and call it a day. (Wow, just like Solomon! LOL)

  12. After seeing if any better offers were out there, Ann Curry decided to stay at NBC, where she, like the network, SOLD OUT!
    I have a feeling that this is going to work against the “Today” show much in the same way when Jane Pauley was ousted, or will it? Inquiry minds want to know….

  13. Well the one who is overpaid is the fuzzy wuzzy grizzly balding matt lauer who is getting 25M a year! he is older than ann and not a great journalist.

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