'Today' Show’s Matt Lauer Offered To Resign For NBC Morning Talk Show Ratings Troubles

'Today' show host Matt Lauer offered to leave the NBC talk show if Steve Burke, Chief Executive of the network, felt it would be a good fit. The media boss dismissed the idea. Lauer offered to resign last fall.

The Daily Beast exclusive report on Matt Lauer says that week after week, the veteran host was feeling down, incessantly blamed by the media for the sinking ratings of the show. Lauer was also publicly assigned blame for messy and untimely departure of Ann Curry, a move that many viewers thought was unnecessary and uncalled for.

“If you think the show’s better off without me, let me know, and I’ll get out of the way,” Burke recalls Lauer telling him.

Lauer did admit in the report that the show and the network did not handle the transition very well, referring to Curry’s sudden departure. Sources close to the story says that Lauer repeatedly tied to convince NBC top honchos to slow things down and give Curry more time before she leaves or is reduced to a smaller role in the show.

Before Curry’s departure, Lauer reached out to CBS’s Couric, asking if she maybe interested in returning to the show. Both she and Lauer dominated the morning time slot for a decade.

Couric was receptive to the idea; she could be a Today co-host with Curry on the team. There were discussions about Couric joining the show, but Burke saying that the show would be too expensive to produce ultimately rejected the idea.

In the end, it was Curry’s public and tearful goodbye that won the day and set the loss for the daytime talk show, slipping behind ABC’s 'Good Morning America'.

Today, Lauer, 55, is pouring his effort in developing a new brand of the 'Today' show. He projects a natural resilience, according to Daily Beast. “I’m not going to whine or get depressed. Who’s going to feel sorry for me? Nobody.”

Lauer is in a multiyear deal with the TV network, which he reportedly signed last April for $20 million a year.

Although Lauer’s position is secure, 'Good Morning America' with Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, is gaining serious traction. The week of February 25 showed that after Roberts return to the show, it drew 5.8 million viewers compared to Today’s 4.8 million.

Today trailed GMA by more than 200,000 in the golden 25-54 demographic and has virtually been tied or slightly ahead among the much-wanted group the past 60 days.