Matt Lauer reveals he tried to lure Katie Couric back to Today as he admits the show's problems are 'self-inflicted'

PUBLISHED: 09:04 EST, 11 March 2013 | UPDATED: 16:23 EST, 11 March 2013

Matt Lauer has admitted that the problems with Today are ‘self-inflicted’ and revealed that he privately approached Katie Couric to rejoin the show.

In his first interview to address the crisis, Lauer said that the abuse hurled at NBC was ‘perhaps deserved’ because of the way Ann Curry’s departure was handled.

He said that Today became ‘too depressing and dark’ and that they were driving away viewers with too many graphic stories about crime.

Taking responsibility: Matt Lauer said he offered to leave his job at Today last fall as the morning show fell behind rival Good Morning America

Better days: As seen here in 2000, Today's team of Ann Curry, Al Roker, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer once dominated the morning ratings

In desperation he met with Couric, who was Today co-anchor with Lauer for 15 years until 2006, but negotiations did not work out.

Speaking to the Daily Beast, Lauer said that he even offered to quit last fall over the plunging ratings which saw Today lose out to ABC’s Good Morning America for the first time in 16 years.

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GMA is now pulling away from Today and cementing its position as the no.1 morning show in America.

Hindsight: In an interview about the struggling morning show, Matt Lauer admitted many of the problems were 'self-inflicted' and said he tried to court Katie Couric for a return

Former partners: Lauer said that rather than forcing Ann Curry out, he warned executives her ouster would be a 'disaster'

For the week of February 25, when Robin Roberts returned from her bone-marrow transplant, GMA got 5.8m viewers - compared to just 4.8m for Today.

The low point for NBC came last year when Curry was forced out after just a year in the job because, she claimed, executives did not like the way she dressed.

Viewers were appalled at the sight of a grown woman weeping on her farewell show and felt she had been treated too harshly.

Lauer told the Daily Beast: ‘It was a hard time for everybody.

‘We were getting kicked around a lot. Some of it was self-inflicted and perhaps deserved.

‘I don’t think the show and the network handled the transition well. You don’t have to be Einstein to know that.

‘It clearly did not help us. We were seen as a family, and we didn’t handle a family matter well.’

Lauer turned to his old friend Couric, who was supposedly ‘receptive’ to the idea of re-joining Today.

The plan was that she would do a daytime show on NBC as well as anchoring Today, but it was rejected as it would be too expensive so she went to ABC instead.

All together: Lauer said the show's fixation on 'tabloid' stories hurt the ratings in the long run

In a frank assessment of what went wrong with Today, Lauer said that the show ‘got a little dour and depressing and dark’ and that one mother had told him how she turned one story off because it was too grisly.]

Lauer said that producers got ‘drunk’ on tabloid stories and that they ‘did some damage in terms of trust with our viewers’.

He added that ‘we want people to feel good about a portion of their morning, and we got away from that’.

Lauer claimed that he was so fed up with the situation - and the grind of the early mornings - that last fall he went to see Steve Burke, the chief executive of NBC Universal, and said: ‘If you think the show’s better off without me, let me know, and I’ll get out of the way’.

But Burke rebuffed him and said: ‘You’re the best person who’s ever done this. We’ll get through this.’

Lauer did however get permission during a contractual window to talk to ABC, CBS and HBO, and NBC executives were sure he was going to leave. He eventually decided to stay.

Fighting words: Katie Couric criticized Today for 'going soft' and not featuring enough hard news stories

In the interview Lauer goes through in detail what happened with Curry’s departure and claims that he warned executives it would be a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ but that they ignored his concerns.

The two also supposedly had lunch together in which he admitted to Curry she wasn’t his first choice.

Multiple reports have painted a very different picture, however, and said that Lauer was the driving force behind Curry’s exit.

Steve Capus, who stepped down last month as NBC News president, said: ‘When Matt was informed that we had made this decision, his good counsel was to go slow, to take care of Ann, and to do the right things.

‘He was quietly and publicly a supporter of Ann’s throughout the entire process. It is unfair that Matt has shouldered an undue amount of blame for a decision he disagreed with.’

For his part Lauer is not self-pitying and admitted he is still the ‘luckiest guy I know’, not least because of his $20 million a year salary.

New team: Lauer now co-hosts with Curry's replacement, Savannah Guthrie, who he admits was second choice after he failed to win back Katie Couric

He said: ‘I’m not going to whine or get depressed. Who’s going to feel sorry for me? Nobody..

‘In some ways being No. 2 in the ratings is a real shot in the arm, a kick in the pants.

‘It makes you hungrier ... I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a fire lit under your ass.’

Couric’s return to Today would mean that she would need to do some apologising after she attacked the show as stale in an interview last year.

She also claimed that Today has gone ‘soft’ and slashed the amount of hard news that it did.

Lauer’s interview will also be bad news for Savannah Guthrie who replaced Curry as Today co-anchor - because she has now found out that she not his first choice either.

Matt Lauer¿s Bruising Year After Ann Curry¿s Ouster Devastated theToday Show

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CBS is a much better morning show. Matt Lauer is no good and neither was Ann Curry. The Today show was better with Gumble, Pauley and Couric. As for ABC Diane Sawyer is too boring and sleepy to watch.

- bray , miami, United States, 12/3/2013 14:00

Click to rate Rating 5

GMA is loud. They all talk at once. They are a bunch of phony-baloneys. A good adult news show is CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose. They do not insult one's intelligence. NBC Has not got a single worthwhile show in the 24 hour lineup. Matt Lauer had some journalist write this "redeeming" article about him, trying to paint him in a better, more benevolent light. No one is buying that.

- Marian , Tarrytown New York, 12/3/2013 13:11

Click to rate Rating 5

The problem is, NBC has nobody strong to replace him. And the new girl is weak, she can't carry that show alone. They really need to replace the entire team in one full swoop. Al Roker is the one I can't stand to watch. He's creepy.

- louisa , los angeles, United States, 12/3/2013 05:30

Click to rate Rating 5

All of these morning shows in the US are pure, unadulterated, plastic, phony pablum viewed by American women as a warm up for their daily soap operas. Matt & Anne, Matt & Katie...does it really matter? No, not at all.

- Vic , Seattle, United States, 12/3/2013 05:00

Click to rate Rating 8

Matt was quietly & publicly supporting Ann Curry? You just had to watch the two of them onscreen for 5 minutes to see his body language towards her. Who is he kidding? He could barely stand to sit next to her!

- CHH , Bettendorf, 12/3/2013 04:42

Click to rate Rating 17

CBS This Morning - everything you want in a morning show. In depth features - minimal stupid banter between hosts - just the facts great reporting. ABC & NBC just awful.

- CHH , Bettendorf, 12/3/2013 04:32

Click to rate Rating 6

Solve all your problems - watch FOX!

- Sue , USA, 12/3/2013 04:22

Click to rate Rating 7

I don't watch NBC. Too liberal. That station is not allowed to be on the tv in this house......ever. It's very easy to do. NBC programing really is awful.- Bluefishgal , Danville, 11/3/2013 21:57 Ditto. They are too biased & they doctored tapes more than once. I used to watch them also. I liked Ann & Merideth

- Smurfet , Tulsa, 12/3/2013 04:13

Click to rate Rating 3

It's always the woman that has to go on these shows.

- DW , NYC, 12/3/2013 02:06

Click to rate Rating 16

I very much enjoy the Today Show, it is my first choice and I agree that GMA is a little to hysterical for me. Anne Curry was NO ONE's favorite. She was a terrible news reader and the stories she did were cloying. Willie Geist is a breath of fresh air. Savannah Guthrie is too good in the political arena for the Today show. Her great skills are being wasted. To Garry, New York, yes we do care, we have been watching for 50 years.

- Jessie , RichmondUSA, United States, 12/3/2013 02:01

Click to rate Rating 10

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