Under the right circumstances, NBC might want to consider changing the name of its morning franchise from “Today” to “Nearly All Day.”
NBC News has considered the prospect of creating a fifth hour of “Today” on weekdays, according to two people familiar with the matter, the latest nod to the growing spotlight many broadcast networks are giving to news programming across their schedules as more consumers watch scripted programs at times of their own choosing.
“We like serving our audience on any given day of the week. There’s enough going on to fill 24 hours of television,” said Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News, in an interview. When asked what slot a new hour of “Today,” might fill, he only suggested that “I don’t think it would be earlier” than the 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. block that currently supports NBC’s daytime schedule. But he cautioned: “There are no imminent plans for it,” and added: “I don’t want to overstate the likelihood of it happening.”
The 7 a.m to 9 a.m. hours have long been the most important in morning TV, but all three broadcast networks with national morning programs have given new consideration in recent months to injecting other hours with their unique early-day blend.
ABC News recently expanded “Good Morning America” on Saturdays to two hours and in 2018 launched a third weekday hour in the early afternoon with Michael Strahan and Sara Haines (Keke Palmer was added in 2019). CBS News retooled the Saturday edition of “CBS This Morning” by adding Jeff Glor to the anchor desk last year and has actively worked to create primetime specials with morning co-anchor Gayle King. Now, CBS News President Susan Zirinsky sees a chance to bring her division’s work to new areas, particularly some of the Viacom cable networks that are now part of the merged ViacomCBS. “I can’t give away my ideas that I’m bringing to Viacom, but several of them could involve our morning news talent,” she says in an interview.
NBC News, meanwhile, has retooled its entire suite of “Today” programs. The 9 a.m. hour is co-anchored by Al Roker. Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. Saturday’s “Today” broadcast now features two Washington correspondents, Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker. Willie Geist’s “Sunday Today” has been crafted to compete with “CBS Sunday Morning,” And NBC News recently announced that the 10 a.m. hour of “Today,” led by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, would incorporate a live studio audience twice a week starting in February.
“I think we are always looking for ways to extend the brand and our talent,” says Oppenheim.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety