Ryan Seacrest to Replace Matt Lauer on NBC's TODAY?

As first reported on The Wall Street Journal Online, NBCUniversal is reportedly in talks with Ryan Seacrest to serve as the replacement for long time TODAY show anchorman Matt Lauer. 

According to the report, Seacrest, host of the Fox singing competition 'American Idol', met with top NBC executives on Tuesday evening to discuss the possiblility of becoming Lauer's successor on the NBC morning show. While talks are only preliminary, Seacrest is reportedly one of the network's top picks to replace Lauer when his contract expires next year. 

NBC's TODAY has led the morning show competition for the past several years and has become an important financial element to the network.  According to Kantar Media, in 2010, TODAY earned a whopping $535 million in advertising revenue, a 5.6% increase from the prior year.

Matt Lauer has served as a co-anchor of the morning new show since 1997 and has worked alongside former hosts Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira.  He has recently hinted to network executives that he is considering leaving the show when his contract expires, compelling them to begin the difficult task of finding a suitable replacement.

Along with 'Idol',  Seacrest serves as host of a daily news show on NBCUniversal's E! network, which he produces as well and appears on E!'s red-carpet events. A spokeswoman for Seacrest as well as NBC have refused to comment on the report. 

To read the article in its entirety, click here. 

 

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