A New York Times report Monday about the "Today" show's attempts to recover from fallen ratings offered a glimpse into NBC News chairman Patricia Fili-Krushel's take on the situation.
The morning show has spent the past year and a half dealing with the fallout from Ann Curry's ouster, which dealt a blow both to its ratings and Matt Lauer's popularity.
The Times reported Monday that "Today" is launching a week-long advertising campaign to try to win back some of its former viewers. The motto of the campaign is “Rise to Shine.” Click over for the full report from The Times.
In an interview with the newspaper, Fili-Krushel admitted — as others have said — that the show botched Curry's exit. She told The Times that she spoke to Matt Lauer about the situation "many" times and said, "I hate to tell you this, Matt, but we need to just shut up and let something take the story off the front page.”
Fili-Krushel has spoken out about the "Today" show's troubles and Lauer's role on the program before. Last year, she told The Hollywood Reporter that the show will be focused in the next two years on who will eventually succeed Lauer as co-host after his contract is up in 2015. She also said that complacency was in part to blame for slipping ratings even before Curry's exit, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I think we just stopped innovating."
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