Matt Lauer had better watch his back — sources say ambitious former “GMA” star Josh Elliott is after his job as host of “Today.”
Elliott told ABC News chiefs on Sunday that he would be leaving the popular “Good Morning America” to work for NBC Sports after months of tense contract negotiations.
Page Six exclusively revealed that Elliott had demanded $8 million to stay at “GMA,” while ABC’s top offer was $4 million.
A well-placed source tells us, “Josh made it clear that if he was going to stay at ‘GMA,’ he wanted $8 million a year, and he wanted George Stephanopoulos’ job now. ABC chiefs made it very clear that this was not going to happen — he would never knock George off the top spot.
“Now Josh is going to NBC Sports,” our source said. “He can’t work for the NBC News division for six months because of the non-compete terms of his ABC contract. But he is still pushing hard , aiming for Matt Lauer or Bob Costas’ job.”
The source sniffed of Elliott’s apparent hubris, “He seems to have forgotten he was picked from obscurity a few years back for ‘GMA’ by Ben Sherwood,” who has been promoted to Disney/ABC president. “Josh told ABC News chiefs on Sunday evening by e-mail that he was leaving, effective immediately,” the source said. “He thought ABC would blink, but they were ready to announce Amy Robach as his replacement.”
While Elliott could not be reached for comment, a source close to the anchor defended his demands, saying they were based on Robin Roberts’ new contract worth up to $14 million a year. Of his ambition to take Lauer’s job, the source said, “There’s nothing wrong wanting to grow in your career. This idea he is angling for Matt’s job is speculation. Josh has a deal with NBC Sports. But anything could happen a year from now.”
Deborah Turness, NBC News president, insisted Josh would not unseat Matt. She told us, “We have the best anchor of the ‘Today’ show, and that’s Matt Lauer. We want him in that job for a long time to come … There is nobody I would rather have in the anchor chair than Matt.”