CURRY CURSE?

‘Today’ Ratings Sink

Since Ann Curry’s departure.

Is there really such a thing as the Ann Curry curse? The Today show has suffered historically low ratings since Curry’s departure—and is set to come in behind its competitor Good Morning, America for the third consecutive week. Today has long had a dominance in the ratings—even with the turnover of hosts over the years—but the loss of the 15-year-veteran Curry proved to be a bit too much. In the 10 weeks before Curry left the show, it averaged 4.94 million viewers with 2.1 million in the core advertising demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds. In the 10 weeks following her departure—including during the Olympics—NBC fell to an average 4.6 million viewers and just 1.9 million of 25- to 54-year-olds.