‘Today’ Is Reportedly Doing Better Than Expected After Matt Lauer’s Departure

It’s been a little over a year since Matt Lauer was fired from his illustrious position as co-host of Today following his sexual misconduct scandal. Even though he was once apart of the most successful anchor team in morning show history, they’ve reportedly managed to keep the ratings up with Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie running the ship.

“There was concern when Matt Lauer left that they would be hurt more than turned out to be the case,” said Garth Tiedje, an analyst and senior vice president at Horizon Media. According to the report obtained by ABC, Hoda earned the permanent gig beside Savannah after Today producers noticed the impressive numbers she garnered while serving as an emergency fill-in.

Hoda’s “Q” score, which rates her popularity, showed females really connected with her and she reportedly more than doubled Matt’s last score among older women.

“[Today] just has the strongest DNA out of all the morning shows,” Shelley Ross, who produced rivals at ABC and CBS, explained. “Everybody loves Hoda. She’s a magical part of the equation.”

However, Today‘s ratings do fluctuate often. “In the second week of December, its audience among 18-to-49-year-old viewers was down 23 percent compared to the same week in 2017,” the Nielsen company said. “The NBC show currently averages 4 million viewers a morning, a 3 percent drop from 2017 before Matt’s exit.”

Savannah recently revealed how hard it was for her to break the news about Matt’s scandal. “I was terrified,” she told Marie Claire in November. “Terrified to think of who would possibly sit next to me, and could I hold this show? I didn’t think so. In fact, I knew I couldn’t.” Despite the controversy, Hoda and Savannah are making it work. “One of us can be having a hard day,” Hoda said, “and by the time the show is over, you’re fully charged.” Savannah added, “You lift each other up.”

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