Today
- Also known as:
- the Today show
When did the Today show first air and why was it significant?
Who developed the concept for the Today show?
What was the original format of the Today show?
Who are some noteworthy hosts of Today?
Today, more commonly known as the Today show, is an American morning talk show that has aired on NBC since 1952. Showcasing news, weather, interviews, pop-culture reports, human-interest stories, and musical performances, Today invented the morning television genre and remains one of the longest running television programs in the United States.
Early days
Developed by NBC programming executive Sylvester L. Weaver, Jr., Today was the first attempt by a major network to replace morning radio. TV executives were originally skeptical about the concept of a 7 am daily broadcast, but Today borrowed structural concepts from the very radio shows it sought to displace. Weaver designed Today to function as a form of background noise for people just starting their day; the show’s highly likeable hosts engaging in casual conversation became welcome guests in American homes.
Weaver conceived of a format that, decades later, is largely unchanged:
“We cannot and should not try to build a show that will make people sit down in front of their set.…We want America to shave, to eat, to dress, to get to work on time. But we also want America to be well informed, amused…and to be reinforced in inner resolution through knowledge.”
Originally a two-hour weekday broadcast, the show premiered on January 14, 1952, hosted by Dave Garroway, who had been chosen for his easy, conversational style. In that first episode, Garroway clearly laid out the show’s mission: “to put you more closely in touch with the world we live in.” But the reality was that the mix of news, interviews, and the occasional gimmick (a chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs served as a cohost for a time in the 1950s) was unlike any program on the nascent medium.
As Today’s popularity grew, other major networks began to populate their schedule with similar morning talk shows, including ABC’s Good Morning America (1975– ) and various morning news programs on CBS.
Evolution
“It is the electronic breakfast table. It is the great national morning newspaper.”—former Today show host Tom Brokaw
For its first six years of production, Today was broadcast from the RCA Exhibition Hall at Rockefeller Center, which featured large street-level windows, allowing the public to gather outside and watch live tapings. The location of the studio changed multiple times. In 1994 NBC built Studio 1A: a three-story, 18,000-square-foot studio that is still used today. Designed specifically for the morning show, it features the famous street-level windows, as well as a large outdoor plaza for public performances and events.
Since its opening on June 20, 1994, the Today show plaza has hosted musical performances by, among others, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince, Whitney Houston, Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Tracy Chapman, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Billy Joel, Beyoncé, Fleetwood Mac, Céline Dion, and Harry Styles. Additionally, multiple weddings, Halloween costume contests, and even a vaccination event during the COVID-19 pandemic have been broadcast live.
Today dominated morning television ratings without challenge until the late 1980s, at which point Good Morning America became a fierce competitor. In the 2010s Good Morning America became dominant, but as viewership splintered, the two programs often swapped the top position week-by-week in the 2020s. Today has grown in size and scope over the years, adding a Sunday show in 1987 and a Saturday morning program five years later. The show expanded to three hours in 2000, then to four hours in 2007, and in 2020 NBC launched Today All Day, a 24/7 digital channel through NBC’s Peacock streaming service.
Memorable coverage
For all the success Today has had as a pop-culture vehicle, the program has always been part of NBC’s news division and as such has found itself at the center of some of the biggest news stories. That was never more true than on the morning of September 11, 2001, when Matt Lauer cut short an interview with an author to report breaking news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center’s North Tower. For several moments, Lauer and cohost Katie Couric talked on air with witnesses, speculating about a small plane being involved, and then at 9:03 am the second plane hit the South Tower on live television. Gasps can be heard on the broadcast as Lauer and Couric realized the enormity of what had just been broadcast.
Lauer was also at the center of one of the most newsmaking interviews of the 1990s when on January 27, 1998, he interviewed first lady Hillary Clinton, just days after the allegations of Pres. Bill Clinton’s sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky had become public. Over 18 gripping minutes, Clinton defended her husband against what she called a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”
In March 2000 Today anchor Couric underwent a colonoscopy on live television as part of her campaign to raise awareness of colorectal cancer and the effectiveness of colonoscopies in detecting the disease early. Couric’s husband, Jay Monahan, had died of colon cancer in 1998 at age 42. After the segment, colonoscopy rates surged in what has been dubbed the “Couric Effect.”
Hosts and controversy
Since Garroway in 1952, much of Today’s success has been linked to the hosts and their on-air chemistry. The title of Today show host was a precursor to the coveted Nightly News gig for John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw. Today also made history when Barbara Walters (who started out in a job called “Today girl” in 1961) became the show’s first female host in 1974. Sportscaster Bryant Gumbel came to Today in 1982 as the show’s first Black host and became known as “never stumble Gumbel” for his exacting standards.
The image shown to the viewers wasn’t always how things played out off-screen, however. Controversies, including Gumbel disparaging veteran weather forecaster Willard Scott in a 1988 memo and Ann Curry’s 2012 firing from a hosting role over what was described as a lack of chemistry with Lauer, drew significant attention. But none of that compared to what Today viewers tuned in to see on November 29, 2017, when host Savannah Guthrie was joined by Hoda Kotb to announce that Lauer, a Today host for more than two decades, had been fired for what NBC News chair Andy Lack described in a statement as “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”
In the wake of the Lauer Me Too movement scandal, Kotb took over hosting alongside Guthrie in January 2018. Kotb retired at the beginning of 2025, and Craig Melvin joined Guthrie as cohost.
Awards and recognition
Today has won myriad awards, including a Peabody Institutional Award in 2023, as well as three Emmy Awards. Today was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1997. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Today in 2012, Pres. Barack Obama honored the program, saying, “Over decades and across generations, the Today show has become a part of American culture.”