Details have come out as to exactly why Jamie Horowitz was fired as the producer of The Today Show by NBC last week.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it had to do with a five hour presentation that the 38-year-old Horowitz gave regarding his ideas for upgrading the morning news program which recently fell behind rival ABC’s Good Morning America in the ratings for the first time in years.
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His suggestions included demoting Natalie Morales and firing the 42-year-old co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. He also wanted to move other reporters and anchors around to different time slots during the show’s extended hours.
Most surprisingly, Horowitz wanted the hugely popular Al Roker to stop doing weather reports.
In effect, Horowitz wanted to change the cast as they do frequently on Saturday Night Live. But he clashed with his boss NBC News president Deborah Turness who felt that the issue for Today was more about content.
The Today Shows staff and on air personalities were also infuriated with what they believed were Horowitz’s deliberate leaks about his plans to the press. Both the New York Post and US Weekly reported that people like Morales were definitely on their way out.
