NBC Moves to Shake Up \'Today\' Leadership

NBC is finalizing a plan to change the leadership at the “Today” show, the longtime first-place morning show that slid to second place this year amid the controversial removal of Ann Curry.

Alexandra Wallace, a senior vice president of NBC News, will be the new executive in charge of all four hours of the highly profitable “Today,” according to people at the network who described the plan on condition of anonymity because the plan had not been announced. She and a producer yet to be selected will succeed Jim Bell, who has been in charge of the program since 2005. Mr. Bell led the campaign for Ms. Curry's removal from the show earlier this year and received much of the blame for the damage done by the transition.

After being No. 1 for 16 straight years, “Today” lost to “Good Morning America” on ABC for a few weeks in April and May. Ms. Curry - who had been on the job only a year - was replaced by Savannah Guthrie in June. Since then “Today” has lost to “G.M.A.” consistently (save for two weeks during the Summer Olympics) and the reputation of Ms. Guthrie's co-host, Matt Lauer, has taken a beating, as many of Ms. Curry's fans have blamed him for her dismissal.

Because of all the turbulence, the producer change is seen as inevitable in the halls of NBC News. But it is unclear when the changes at the top will take take effect. Some people with knowledge of the plan, who said they could be fired if they were identified, cautioned that it was still subject to change. A spokeswoman for NBC News declined to comment. NBC is part of NBCUniversal, which is controlled by Comcast.

Ms. Wallace will be the first woman ever put in charge of the “Today” show - a milestone for the media industry because “Today” invented the morning television format 60 years ago. “G.M.A.” has had a female executive producer on two occasions, but for the most part men have run the network morning shows, which rise or fall in large part on their ability to get women to watch. Women make up about 65 percent of the “Today” audience and about 70 percent of the “G.M.A.” audience.

The changes are being overseen by Patricia Fili-Krushel, the chairwoman of the newly created NBCUniversal News Group, which includes NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC, in concert with the news division chief, Steve Capus.

Steve Burke, the NBCUniversal chief executive, put Ms. Fili-Krushel in charge of the group in July, and since then she has been exploring what to do with “Today,” the most valuable piece of NBC News real estate, according to people who have spoken with her.

Ms. Fili-Krushel declined an interview request on Monday. She is expected to pick a day-to-day producer of “Today” under Ms. Wallace and may direct other changes to the show as well.

A shake-up like this one has been rumored about for months - making “Today” an awkward p lace to work in the meantime. Mr. Bell, who took over “Today” in 2005 and kept it No. 1 until this year, has continued to run the show this fall while fending off rumors about his future there. He had a second job this year producing NBC Sports' Summer Olympics coverage. Mr. Bell will become the full-time executive producer of NBCUniversal's Olympics coverage, reporting to the chairman of NBC Sports Group, Mark Lazarus, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the search for his replacements has been an open secret, even at NBC's competitors. “Resumes are flying,” said a senior executive at a competing network. Among those interviewed for the day-to-day job are Izzy Povich, a producer at MSNBC, and Amy Chiaro, a former “Today” show producer who now helps run “The Dr. Oz Show” in syndication. Ms. Povich declined to comment. Ms. Chiaro said in an email message that she has “no plans of leaving” “Dr. Oz.”

Ms. Wallace did not respond to a request for co mment. She came to NBC in 2005 from CBS, where she was a senior producer of the morning show for that network. At NBC she produced “Weekend Today” before moving over to the evenings, first as an executive overseeing “NBC Nightly News” and then as the executive producer of the broadcast. Most recently she was the top deputy to Mr. Capus. In September he asked her to take over “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” the prime-time newsmagazine that premiered last year and struggled to build an audience. She could remain the producer of “Rock Center” while overseeing “Today.”

The new producers will be taking over a morning show that's not accustomed to losing. But that's where “Today” finds itself now, having suffered what one executive called a “slow fade” in the ratings that predated Ms. Curry and worsened while she was co-host with Mr. Lauer. Her tearful goodbye seemed to tip the scales, sending “Today” deep into second place.

Lately, though, there have been positive signs for “Today:” After losing for 10 straight weeks in the category that matters most to advertisers, viewers ages 25 to 54, the show beat “G.M.A.” by a few thousand viewers in the last week of October. “Today” still lost among total viewers, with 5.27 million, versus 5.49 million for “G.M.A.” The ratings results were incomplete because of show pre-emptions and power outages across the Northeast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Ms. Curry has not appeared on “Today” for more than a month. She is in charge of a new reporting unit that most recently contributed a report to “Rock Center” about the hurricane's destruction on Staten Island. The executive in charge of Ms. Curry's unit is Ms. Wallace.

MTV Hires New President of Programming

MTV made a significant management change Monday, naming Susanne Daniels, an experienced television executive, to the position of president of programming.

Ms. Daniels, who is best known for leading the WB network during its most popular period, will replace David Janollari, whose contract was expiring.

MTV has had numerous hits in recent years, none bigger than “Jersey Shore,” but that show was generated by the network's reality division. The roster of scripted hits on the network has been thinner, led by shows like “Awkward” and “Teen Wolf.”

Van Toffler, the president of the MTV Music and Logo Group, who made the appointment, is known to be especially interested in upgrading the network's scripted lineup.

Several MTV executives said Monday that Mr. Toffler has pursued Ms. Daniels in the past for a programming job at MTV. Ms. Daniels most recently headed programming for the Lifetime network. She will work out of Los Angeles.

While at Lifetime, Ms. Daniels introduced that network's two most successful series, “Army Wives” and “Drop Dead Diva,” after succeeding at the WB network with a range of culture-defining hits like “Dawson's Creek,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” and “Gilmore Girls.”

MTV, which often touts its ability to keep reinventing itself for new generations of young viewers, will undoubtedly look for Ms. Daniels to generate a similar crop of series to make a cultural mark on young viewers.

Digital Notes: New Deal Gives StubHub a Greater Role in Concert Sales

In the latest sign that ticket scalping has gone mainstream, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, a major sports and concert company that operates more than 100 sites and arenas around the world, has agreed to have StubHub become the resale market for many of its events, the companies said on Monday.

Starting early next year, StubHub, an eBay subsidiary, will become integrated into Anschutz's new ticketing system, AXS, allowing exchanges between buyers and sellers within the system by managing the tickets' bar codes. In addition, PayPal, which is also owned by eBay, will become a accepted method of payment on AXS. The announcement said the deal would include “further integrations” between eBay and the Anschutz Entertainment Group's various business.

Anschutz's properties include the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the O2 Arena in London and sports teams like the Los Angeles Kings; it also has an interest in the Los Angeles Lakers. Its concert division, A.E.G. L ive, is the second largest in the world after Live Nation. The full entertainment group was put up for sale in September by its parent company, the Anschutz Corporation, with price estimates ranging from $7 billion to $10 billion.

Live Nation competes with StubHub through TicketsNow, another marketplace for reselling tickets, which was bought by Ticketmaster in 2008 for $265 million. (Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation in 2010.)

Record Company Investment: The value of recorded music has been gradually shrinking, but in recent years record companies have maintained relatively steady levels of investment in developing and promoting artists.

According to a report released on Monday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group based in London, record companies last year spent $2.7 billion on artists and repertory - finding, signing and developing artists - or about 16 percent of the industry's global wholesale revenue. Including marketing expenses, the total investment was $4.5 billion, or 26 percent of revenue.

Those figures are slightly less than what the federation found in its last such report, two years ago, even if costs are rising. Looking at figures from 2008, the trade group said that $5 billion was spent on artists and marketing, about 29 percent of revenue. At that time, though, it cost labels about $1 million to “break in” a new act, counting contract advances, recording and video expenses, and other marketing and promotion; in the most recent report, that figure was $1.4 million.

From 2008 to 2011, global revenue from recorded music fell almost 15 percent, to $17 billion from $20 billion, the group has reported. At its peak in 1999, the industry had nearly $29 billion in revenue.

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

Store-Branded Gift Cards Carry Fewer Fees

As the holiday season approaches, an analysis by Bankrate.com finds that store-branded gift cards charge fewer fees than the all-purpose cards offered by banks and credit-cards companies.

Bankrate's 2012 Gift Card Survey found that of the 55 widely held store-branded gift cards it reviewed, like those from Best Buy and Kohl's, just five charge a purchase fee. Meanwhile, all eight widely held cards issued by banks and card companies that recipients could use at any store that accepts card charged a purchase fee, ranging from $2.95 to $6.95.

“The key takeaway for consumers is that they're going to get the most value from store-branded gift cards,” said Janna Herron, a credit card analyst at Bankrate.com, in a statement. “The benefit of general-purpose cards offered by banks and credit card companies is that they can be used anywhere, but because of the fees, you would be better off giving cash.”

Three-fourths of the cards offered by banks and card c ompanies charge a maintenance or dormancy fee of up to $3 a month, if the card goes unused for at least 12 months. Just 2 percent of store-branded gift cards charge such fees.

About half of the gift cards surveyed can be reloaded. And two-thirds of gift-card issuers will replace the card and/or funds if the card is lost or stolen.

The vast majority of cards don't have an expiration date. The findings are based on a review of the cards between Oct. 1 and Oct. 13.

Will you give gift cards this holiday season?

An Election Probably Shouldn\'t Change Your Financial Plan

Carl Richards

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah, and is the director of investor education at the BAM Alliance. His book, “The Behavior Gap,” was published this year. His sketches are archived on the Bucks blog.

New information is scary. When things change, we often don't know what to do. We may have had a plan before things changed, but things are different. So now what?

With the election last week, we suddenly have lots of new information, or at least it feels like we do. A little less than half the country is surprised and even disappointed. And unless you're living in a cave, you're now hearing about the uncertainty surrounding the looming budget showdown.

At times like these, there is a tendency to act now and ask questions later. Before you do, take just a moment, a small pause, and walk through a few steps to avoid making a big mistake.

1. Do you have a plan?

I'm assuming you do. You have a clear idea of where you are today, where you want to go and you have spelled out the investment process that you think will get you there.

2. Does this new information change that plan?

Any investment or financial plan most likely has risk built into it. Uncertainty is not new. Of course, this time might indeed be different, but don't bet on it. Instead, make sure that the level of risk you're taking matches your goals.

3. Should you change course?

After reviewing your plan in light of this new information, the key question to ask is whether a change is warranted. The primary reason for making changes to a sound plan depends on changes in your life and goals, not changes in the markets or politics. So i f your goals haven't changed, and you have a rational plan to get there, stick with it.

If, on the other hand, this new information has you reassessing your goals and the level of risk required to get there, it might be time to revisit your plan. Do it deliberately and with care, because history has shown that selling when worried can be a bad idea.

And all this process requires is that you pause and ask a few questions before acting. It seems like a small thing to do to avoid making the same painful mistakes over and over again.

 

Elmo Puppeteer Accused of Underage Relationship

Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of Elmo on the children's television show “Sesame Street,” has taken a leave of absence amid an unsubstantiated claim that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy.

Mr. Clash said the relationship started only after the person, now 23 years old, was over the age of 18. Mr. Clash told TMZ, which reported the accusation early Monday morning, that the relationship was “between two consenting adults” and he added, “I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”

Mr. Clash's leave of absence from “Sesame Street” started on Sunday, once it was clear that the accusations were going to become public, according to an executive at Sesame Workshop, which produces the show.

“Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation. We have granted him a leave of absence to do so,” Sesame Workshop sai d in a statement.

No charges have been filed against Mr. Clash.

Sesame Workshop said it received a “communication” about the alleged underage relationship from the 23-year-old in June.

“We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action,” the organization said in its statement. “We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated.”

The organization said Mr. Clash had “exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding Internet usage,” and was disciplined accordingly.

Mr. Clash has been helping to identity other puppeteers who can play Elmo, and some of them will now fill in for him, according to a Sesame Workshop executive, who said that production on “Sesame Street” will go forward as planned.

Mr. Clash, 52, was the star of the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo.” He has played Elmo for more than two decades.

The Breakfast Meeting: MSNBC on the Rise, and Judgments on Martha, Conan and Bond

The cable news network MSNBC has redefined itself during the four years of the Obama presidency, Brian Stelter writes, “from CNN also-ran to the anti-Fox.” As it became widely known as the nation's liberal television network, it has passed CNN in the ratings. In its 2008 election coverage, the network still paired the NBC News host David Gregory with its outspoken anchor at the time, Keith Olbermann; in 2012, the liberal host Rachel Maddow anchored the coverage, surrounded by four other liberal hosts and a moderate conservative, Steve Schmidt. In many ways, Mr. Stelter writes, the network, which until 2005 was partly owned by Microsoft, is where Fox was a decade ago - trying to maximize profit from its popularity.

• The much discussed on-air confrontation on election night on Fox News between Karl Rove and the network's “decision desk” over whether to call Ohio for President Obama has been analyzed for what it says about Mr. Rove and his political analysis . But David Carr notes that Fox News ultimately ignored Mr. Rove's caution about the Ohio results still being up in the air: “In doing so, the network avoided marginalizing itself and ended, at least for a night, its war on the president.”

The British Broadcasting Corporation's director general, George Entwistle, resigned on Saturday night after a report on “Newsnight,” one of the network's flagship current affairs programs, wrongly implicated a former Conservative Party politician in a pedophile scandal, John F. Burns and Ravi Somaiya reported. The false report follows recent criticism of the BBC over the revelation last month that a longtime television host, Jimmy Savile, was suspected of having sexually abused perhaps hundreds of young people over the course of decades, sometimes on the BBC premises.

In separate columns, two different media stars who have become one-name brands - Martha and Conan - were faulted over how they have managed their ca reers after times of crisis.

• James B. Stewart writes that Martha Stewart, despite a downturn in her company that has led to recent layoffs of 70 employees, or 12 percent of her staff, is still compensating herself lavishly. In the last three years, Ms. Stewart's compensation from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, in which she owns 90 percent of the voting shares, was $21.2 million, even as the company was in a downward spiral.
• Conan O'Brien, after being replaced by Jay Leno in early 2010 and moving his talk show to TBS, “still hasn't moved on,” Jason Zinoman writes. The experience of being mistreated by NBC executives permeates the show, up to even this year's Halloween jokes. Mr. Zinoman writes: “Isn't it time to leave this dead end? While some grudges can be leveraged into explosive comedy, this one risks turning Mr. O'Brien into a darkly obsessed figure out of ‘The Larry Sanders Show.' “
• Another one-name brand, Bond, James Bond, had his best opening-weekend results ever, Brooks Barnes reports. “Skyfall,” which comes 50 years after the first Bond movie, “Dr. No,” took in an estimated $87.8 million over the weekend in North American theaters, easily enough for No. 1 last week and a new high even when adjusting for inflation, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box office data.

The National Book Awards, which will be handed out Wednesday at a dinner in the ornate Cipriani Wall Street, has aspirations to become more glamorous and influential, Leslie Kaufman writes. In its instructions this year, in red ink, judges were told that it was O.K. to nominate writers whose books were widely read; the goal, it seems, is to create the kind of attention that regularly follows an award of the Man Booker Prize in Britain. “It's not about being glitzy,” said David Steinberger, the chief executive of Perseus Books and chairman of the foundation. “It's about increasing the impact great books have on the culture.”

• The widow and literary executor of the poet T.S. Eliot has died in London at age 86, The Guardian reported. Valerie Eliot met her husband at the British publisher Faber & Faber, where she was a secretary and he was a director, and married in 1957. (She was his second wife, and died in 1965.) She edited his poems and letters for publication, The Guardian writes, and refused to cooperate with would-be biographers, in keeping with Eliot's last wishes.

Noam Cohen edits and writes for the Media Decoder blog. Follow @noamcohen on Twitter.

Monday Reading: Reconsidering Flood Insurance

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.

• Parents shouldering loans for college-aged children fall on tough times. (National)
• Casting a ballot by smartphone. (Bits)
• Plan to become an ex-smoker for good. (Well)
• The cellphone minutes were prepaid, but the grief was free. (Business)
• An island guide to Caribbean deals. (Travel)
• Seven hotels that sell more than sun. (Travel)
• Hurricane Sandy reveals a life unplugged. (Sunday Styles)
• Reconsidering flood insurance. (Real Estate)
• Dealing with delayed closings after Hurricane Sandy. (Real Estate)
• Obama to insist on tax increase for the wealthy. (National)
• Young adults are moving out a bit more now. (Economix)
• Price is major factor for electric vehicles. (Wheels)
• Chrysler recalls 745,000 Jeeps for airbag problem. (Wheels)
• A race against the clock again in package delivery. (Business)
• Removing a Firefox add-on. (Gadgetwise)
• Can foods affect colon-cancer survival? (Well)
• The kugel challenge. (Well)
• More time to enroll in Medicare for those in storm areas. (The New Old Age)
• SAT subject test requirement changed for those affected by storm. (The Choice)
• Who told the AARP about my birthday? (Booming)