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Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Lauer becomes NBC's $13 million man
 After playing second fiddle to Katie Couric for the past nine years, "Today" co-host Matt Lauer has signed a new contract that pays him to be the show's top biller through 2011. Lauer will make at least $13 million a year on the morning program under the terms of his new three-year deal, according to the New York Times. His new co-host, Meredith Vieira, will make a reported $10 million a year. That puts both of them loads of bills ahead of Brian Williams, who banks a cool $4 million for "Nightly News." Last week, Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, where she will reportedly pull down an annual $15 million as "CBS Evening News" anchor. Lauer and Vieira are expected to debut as a team for the first two hours of the show in September. That's when Couric will also start at "Evening News," and according to FoxNews.com she will also quickly assume her side job on "60 Minutes" as the personalities on that show shrink in number with Mike Wallace's retirement this spring.Top anchor salaries skyrocketing These salaries mark a new high point in pay for news anchor talent, with Lauer and Vieira reaching the $10 million mark that has been passed in the last few years only by Couric, ABC counterpart Diane Sawyer, and the late ABC anchor Peter Jennings. While anchors are often reluctant to publicly announce their salaries, news reports indicate a dramatic rise in the salaries of the highest paid news talent over the past decade. Couric, who has been commanding a salary in the $15 million range since 2002 at NBC, even reportedly turned down $20 million to stay in her current position. In the 1990's, top salaries generally ranked in the $2 to $7 million range. This comes as networks have cut back in news expenses since the 1980's, closing foreign bureaus and reducing staff size. Jennings was reportedly asked to take a pay cut in 2002 amid demands for more budget cuts at ABC News. However, top anchors like Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather have told book authors that executives refused overtures to reinvest in news coverage if they were to take pay cuts. Posted by ECTVN on 4/12/2006 - 
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Quote of the Day "Mother Nature reclaimed the Mississippi Delta. If she wants to move the delta, or the city for that matter, then she will." -- WCNC-36 Charlotte weatherman Brad Panovich, working at sister station WWL-4, shared his thoughts on the state of New Orleans (WWLTV.com) Tomorrow Part 2 of a Special Edition The roof may have blown off its newsroom, but WLOX-13 is still fighting to provide information to viewers in the hard-hit Biloxi/Gulfport area. How other stations are helping out, plus a check on other media outlets affected by Hurricane Katrina. Previous Coverage Hurricane not good for TV trucks Mobile station also damaged WLOX update; reporter on roof Hurricane hits WLOX building New Orleans stations in high gear Quick Clicks Back to the home page TV news audio clips E-Mail East Coast TV News
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