Matt Lauer's Firing From Today Didn't Have a Major Impact on Ratings
Over a year after former Today show host Matt Lauer was ousted for what NBC News chairman Andy Lack called "inappropriate sexual behavior," NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke referred to Lauer as "a grenade," in an interview with Variety.
While the interview primarily touched on Lack and the decision to add (and ultimately remove) former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly from the NBC weekday morning lineup in light of her recent settlement with NBC News over her unfulfilled three year contract, Burke also touched briefly on the subject of Lauer's ouster in 2017.
"Matt Lauer was a grenade that we didn’t know was a grenade," he said. "I was here seven years and I thought Matt Lauer was the greatest interviewer in news.”
How Lauer's Departure Impacted Today
While the allegations against Lauer that ultimately led to his firing were a surprise to many, a ratings review showed that the damage to Today has been significantly less dramatic than many experts had feared.
Indeed, according to numbers obtained from the Nielsen company by USA Today, the NBC morning show averaged 4 million viewers each morning in late 2018, just 3 percent lower than its ratings before Lauer’s exit. By comparison, CBS This Morning, which lost anchor Charlie Rose around the same time as Lauer under another sexual misconduct scandal, is reportedly down 10 percent over the same time period.
“There was concern when Matt Lauer left that they would be hurt more than turned out to be the case,” Garth Tiedje, an analyst and senior vice president at Horizon Media told USA Today.
The show's ability to maintain its audience is attributed in part to its long track record-Today first launched in 1952-as well as the success of replacement host Hoda Kotb. Kotb’s popularity among women is strong–essential considering that female viewers make up the bulk of Today's audience. In fact, according to Marketing Evaluations, Inc., her popularity score more than doubles Lauer’s last score among older women.
How Lauer's Departure Impacted His Former Colleagues
On December 11, Kathie Lee Gifford announced on the fourth hour of Today, which she hosts with Hoda Kotb, that she will be leaving the show in the spring of 2019. The move comes a full year after Gifford had expected to make her final bows on the show.
According to statements she made to People in 2018, she had informed the network in January of 2017 that she would be leaving to pursue film projects. Those plans fell by the wayside amid the turmoil that followed the misconduct allegations against Lauer and his subsequent removal.
“Some things were painful for us. And we had to adjust, and then they said, ‘If we accommodate your schedule, will you consider staying?’" she told People at the time. "I wasn’t looking to get out, but I needed the time. So when they accommodated the schedule, then there was no reason to leave."
What Lauer is Doing Now
But while his former colleagues are looking for new opportunities, what's next for Lauer remains a mystery. Since his firing from the Today show in November 2017, Lauer has reportedly spent his days holed up in his $33-million Hamptons house, where he's been staying quiet and "focused on family."
Despite rumors of a possible career comeback (Lauer told fans in August that he's "been busy being a dad. But don’t worry, I’ll be back on TV," according to Page Six) a source has since told People in September that a move back to primetime isn't in the cards for the near future. Lauer “is not planning any kind of TV comeback right now,” the source reported, saying that he is making his children a top priority.
“Matt doesn’t really socialize much with his friends anymore. He’s been staying close to home and laying really low and focusing all his energy on the kids,” the source explained. “If he does go out, it’s for them. He supports his kids’ events.”
Lauer Breaks His Silence
In April of 2018 the disgraced anchor made a statement to the Washington Post in which he said, "I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months . . . I remained silent in an attempt to protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore a small degree of the privacy they have lost. But defending my family now requires me to speak up."
"I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC. However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false."
He followed that up in May in response to a report NBCUniversal released following its internal investigation into the misconduct allegations that cost him his job. In a statement to Variety, Lauer said he was fired after "admitting to past relationships with co-workers," but expressed his disagreement with "certain aspects" of the report.
"There are aspects of the NBC report with which I clearly disagree. However, I spent 25 wonderful years at the network, 20 of those at Today, and I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished as a team. On November 29, 2017, I was terminated by NBC after admitting to past relationships with co-workers. A day later I took responsibility for those relationships, apologized to the people I hurt and promised to begin the process of repairing the damage I had caused my family," Lauer said. "I have worked every day since then to honor that promise."
Lauer's Other Battles
In July, Lauer gave one of his first public interviews with Radio New Zealand about the ongoing battle over public access to the 16,000-acre, $9.2-million ranch there for which he purchased a lease last year. Known as Hunter Valley Station, the ranch is the only thoroughfare to Hawea Conservation Park.
The New Zealand government’s Walking Access Commission wants to offer hikers and hunters more access to Lauer's property to get to the park, but the New York Times reports that the disgraced TV star wants "hundreds of thousands" of dollars, "if not more," if he is forced to allow greater access to a 25-mile gravel road that passes through the property.
Lauer told Radio New Zealand that the groups seeking an easement on his property are "taking advantage of some difficult times I've been through over the past six months" and added, "I think they see me as an easy mark."
In early June, Lauer dined with Today veteran Deborah Kosofsky at the East Pole, Page Six reports, and the two reportedly discussed his "summer plans" and a potential trip from his longtime home of the Hamptons "to the mountains" or heading to the farm in New Zealand, which authorities determined he would be allowed to keep after the country launched an investigation into whether he had violated its "good character" condition for foreign landowners.
Ann Curry on Matt Lauer
The 60-year-old's former co-host, Ann Curry, also spoke to the Washington Post. Curry said that in 2012, a female staffer confided she had been "sexually harassed physically" by Lauer. "A woman approached me and asked me tearfully if I could help her," Curry told the Post. "She was afraid of losing her job ... I believed her."
Curry said she went to NBC executives and, keeping the staffer's name private at her request, "told management they had a problem and they needed to keep an eye on [Lauer] and how he deals with women."
Lauer and Curry reportedly had a rocky relationship ("I can't believe I am sitting next to this woman," he once told an assistant, according to New York magazine), and her tearful sign-off from the show in 2012 included a particularly awkward kiss from Lauer.
Lauer's Relationship with his Today Colleagues
Lauer's replacement on the show, Hoda Kotb, seems to have a friendlier relationship with the former anchor though. In an early April interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Kotb said, "We keep in touch with him. I mean, look, this is one of those complex situations. I’ve known him since I started working at NBC [in 1998]."
"When I was sick with breast cancer, he was the first to call," Kotb added. "He helps and helped in ways that . . . you know, he was incredible in that way. There is that Matt and then there’s the Matt that the accusers speak of. And those accusers' voices matter, and that story matters."
Lauer's wife Annette Roque
In January, the Post reported that Lauer's wife of almost two decades, Annette Roque, "forced him out of the Hamptons estate they shared with their three kids." The newspaper now says his marriage to Roque is "over."
The disgraced former anchor was spotted in August with his his soon-to-be ex-wife Annette Roque in Bridgehampton.
Page Six reports that Lauer will pay Annette Roque up to $20 million in a divorce. A source also tells the publication that the couple is separating amicably.
“Things really have settled down," the source says. "Matt and Annette are getting on and they’re both spending time with their kids. They hope to settle the divorce very soon.”
This was a marked difference from rumors earlier this year that Lauer was "furious" about the terms of the separation.
"Matt is furious he is essentially handing over half of his net worth to Annette," a source told Us Weekly earlier this year. "He could fight for a better deal in court but that would only result in dragging this out longer and negative headlines. He is ready to move on with his life and truly believes that a television comeback is possible."
At the time, the source also told the magazine, "Roque will receive the [family's] horse farm, their current residence and a one-time payment of $25 million."
Lauer's Real Estate
Lauer could have moved to another home he owns in Sag Harbor, with gardens by landscape architect Miranda Brooks and interiors by Muriel Brandolini, which has been on the market and got a price reduction in early March. First listed for $14.9 million, the six-bedroom home's asking price was reduced to $12.75 million, a chop of more than $2 million as the Daily Mail first reported. The 6,000-square foot house, built by architect Daniel Romualdez, sits on 25 acres, and the property also includes a heated pool and Har-Tru tennis court.
Lauer and Roque's main house had been Richard Gere's former home, Strongheart Manor, which they reportedly paid $36 million to purchase in 2013. The estate sits on 6.3 acres on the peninsula of North Haven near Sag Harbor and has 12 bedrooms.
News also broke in August that Lauer had sold his Upper East Side apartment for above its $7.35 million asking price. According to Variety, which first shared news of the sale, Lauer bought the property in August of 2004 for "a smidgen more than $5.882 million."
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