Matt Lauer is doing double duty today. After anchoring “Today” this morning, he’ll fill in for Brian Williams on “NBC Nightly News” tonight. It’s the first time in almost 10 years Lauer has sat in the “Nightly” chair. He last filled in in 2002 when Tom Brokaw was anchor. Last night, Lauer opened up about his new deal with NBC News and about the ratings slide “Today” has experienced.
“The show is not where I want it to be right now, the ratings are not where I want them to be right now,” Lauer told Donny Deutsch who guest-hosted CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” last night. “I want to make it better,” Lauer added.
When Deutsch went “there” about how much Lauer is making as part of his new deal, Lauer said, “I have not heard anybody come up with the right amount. I think two percent of what was written was true and the number has never been true.”
As for why he stayed: “I have fed off the company trough at NBC for a long time, and I have been the benefactor of great success there.”