The woman who oversees all NBC News properties has criticized the "Today" show for a lack of innovation.
Patricia Fili-Krushel, the chairman of the NBC Universal News Group, told the LA Times on Tuesday that the formerly top-rated morning show had been struggling.
"When you are No. 1, it's easy to stop taking chances," she said. "I think we just stopped innovating." She said "Today" had spent too much time worried about "Good Morning America" instead of focusing on itself. The ABC show has been comfortably ahead in the ratings for nearly a year.
Fili-Krushel, who expressed confidence in the show's current pairing of Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie, spoke a day after Lauer criticized NBC for its handling of Ann Curry's ouster. The network is making a concerted effort to move on from the fiasco, and to drum up some positive publicity for the much-maligned Lauer.
Despite the continual agita over "Today," NBC still has the top-rated evening newscast. Cable news is a bright spot as well, with a healthy MSNBC and CNBC. But, as the Times noted, there are other problems:
"Rock Center," the prime-time news magazine that [Brian] Williams anchors, is struggling. "Meet the Press," too, has fallen behind CBS' "Face the Nation" and has lost more than 25% of its audience since 2008.
Fili-Krushel, who does not come from a news background, also has to find a replacement for departed NBC News president Steve Capus.
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