While NBC is grooming a possible successor to Matt Lauer — including Carson Daly, David Gregory and Willie Geist — the network won’t let Lauer out of its grip without a fight.
NBC News president Deborah Turness told us via e-mail: “As we’ve said many times before, Matt is our guy. He’s key to the show’s success. We are focused on keeping him in the anchor chair for a long time, and that is exactly where you’ll find him.”
The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday described NBC’s plan to make a seamless Lauer hand-off. Geist, a co-host of the 9 a.m. hour, and “Meet the Press” anchor Gregory are seen as front-runners, as their popularity scores are higher than Lauer’s.