It’s not a fun time to be a morning show personality. Over on ABC, reports indicate that Michael Strahan has created quite a bit of tension on set, with Lara Spencer especially unhappy over her reduced role now that the ex-NFL star is on board. In the wake of this upheaval, chatter has turned to Good Morning America’s rival at NBC. Many are wondering: What might Megyn Kelly’s arrival mean for Today Show staffers? To kick off 2017, Kelly said goodbye to Fox News and hello to her new broadcast home. Ever since committing to the network, however, Kelly has been careful not to reveal very much about when viewers will see her debut and in what fashion. According to most reliable sources, Kelly will be given a five-days-a-week program that airs some time in the morning each day. As a result, one of the hours of The Today Show will very likely be axed. In late January, Tamron Hall left the program out of anger that she and Al Roker are presumably getting bumped to make room for Kelly. So there’s already been a shake-up behind the scenes and in front of the camera… and insiders don’t expect things to calm down any time soon, either. Kelly “wants to do a smart morning political show and wants to hire her own staff,” someone in the know tells Radar Online, explaining why this is a problem: “But NBC [is] pushing for more of a daytime show with an audience like Phil Donahue under the Today umbrella and staff.” Until these very important details get worked out, Kelly will reportedly begin her stint as an NBC employee by hosting a weekend show, prior to shifting to her regular weekday slot. This doesn’t sit well with the woman who just left the network that made her rich and famous in order to get a fresh start and a new opportunity at NBC. ” Megyn is pissed that she’s going to get a slow rollout starting with just a weekend show that no one care about,” Radar writes. At this point, no one associated with Today is very happy. They don’t know what the future will bring; whether Kelly will essentially take over completely or simply be dropped in amidst the staffers already in place. “It is a mess and causing massive internal drama,” an insider tells Radar. “The staff at The Today show’s 9 and 10 am hour do not know if they should be looking for new jobs.” Heck, even Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb “have been kept in the dark about what is happening to their show and are livid,” the source says. You’d think executives would at least be making it a priority to ensure Kelly is happy, but that simply hasn’t been the case, according to this article. “She was promised firework and a huge advertising campaign around her debut,” the source says. But now? “It doesn’t even look like she will be getting a weekday show until the end of the year. They have managed to piss off everyone!”
Excerpt from:
The Today Show Shake-Up: Who May Be Out?
