Hoda Kotb’s surprise announcement this week that she will be stepping down as anchor of NBC’s “Today” was in part due to the network asking her to take a pay cut, Puck News reported Friday.
According to Puck, she earned more than $20 million a year, a salary network executives told her couldn’t be justified anymore thanks to the changing broadcast landscape.
“NBC executives loved Hoda and knew her value to the brand, but also made clear to her agents that such stratospheric contracts were no longer justifiable given the industry’s inexorable decline,” due in part to the steep ratings decline affecting “Today” and competitors like “Good Morning America,” Puck reported.
In September, 2014, “Today” averaged 4.672 million total viewers. However this month, the show averaged 2.536 million, despite narrowly beating rivals at other networks.
Representatives for NBC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
Kotb announced during Thursday’s episode of “Today” that she will step down and transition into a as-yet unspecified different role at NBC early in 2025.
In a memo to staff that Kotb also read on-air, she said that made her decision in August after realizing “it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new.”
“As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” Kotb continued. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”
Kotb has spent 10 of her 26 years at NBC at “Dateline,” seven on the 7 a.m. “Today” hour and 16 on the 10 a.m. hour. She helped launch the show’s fourth hour alongside Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager.