NBC could be up for another battle with ABC, this time over popular “Today” show co-host Hoda Kotb — who sources tell Page Six is being eyed by ABC as a potential new co-host for “The View.”
Kotb — who sits alongside Kathie Lee Gifford to host the bubbly fourth hour of the “Today” show, “Kathie Lee & Hoda” — has been mentioned by ABC chiefs as a possible replacement for longtime “View” host Joy Behar, who’s exiting the show after 16 years.
A source told us “The View” is “very interested” in Kotb and has already reached out to her camp.
Another media insider explained of ABC’s potential move to poach Kotb, “Hoda addresses several of their needs. She has news experience, which is something ‘The View’ has not had since Meredith Vieira left. She also adds some diversity to the panel.”
A game of musical chairs has kicked off on the “The View” after co-hosts Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck both announced their departures in recent months. Hasselbeck earlier this month left the show to join Fox News and was replaced by Jenny McCarthy. Behar’s farewell episode will air Aug. 9. The show’s creator, Barbara Walters, announced she would retire from the program next summer.
Kotb, meanwhile, has co-hosted with Gifford since 2007, and the two sassy, wine-swilling talking heads have fashioned themselves into a well-groomed “Thelma & Louise” of daytime TV.
The fourth hour is a ratings hit for “Today,” while the earlier programming blocks have fought hard to keep viewers in the wake of last year’s awkward dismissal of Ann Curry.
Insiders believe NBC would hustle to keep its Kotb/Gifford partnership intact.
A source close to Kotb told us: “Hoda loves her job at ‘Today’ and she’s very happy laughing and scratching with Kathie Lee every day.”
And a rep for ABC insisted of any move to bring Kotb over to the network, “There’s absolutely zero truth to this whatsoever.”