Amid Meredith Vieira 'Today' News Lies Turmoil at Morning News Shows

4:30 PM PDT 4/6/2011 by Marisa Guthrie

A possible anchor shake-up at "Today," with Matt Lauer now possibly leaving at the end of 2012, comes amid changes at ABC, CBS and CNN.

With Meredith Vieira likely to exit when her Today contract expires in September and Matt Lauer possibly following her out the door – though not until December 2012 – NBC News executives certainly have their work cut out for them. Lauer has been a steady presence at Today since 1994 when he joined the show as news anchor. He was named co-host three years later. And while Vieira joined in 2006, her easy manner had an almost immediate calming effect at Today where she is well liked by the show’s crew and her on-air colleagues. It is that on-air chemistry – so intangible and so difficult to get right – that drives the success of morning news.