A new day for “Today” as former senior producer Noah Oppenheim will become the executive in charge of the morning program, network President Deborah Turness announced Friday.
“Noah will oversee all aspects of the TODAY brand and is responsible for all platforms of TODAY, including broadcast and digital,” Turness wrote to staff. “His mission will be to guide the editorial content, drive growth and integration, and identify strategic opportunities.”
Oppenheim served as a senior producer for the morning program when it was the number one show, but left in 2008 to pursue entertainment production. Years after he left, “Today” was toppled by ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The NBC morning show has been fighting to take back the top spot since it fell to second place in 2012.
After “Today,” Oppenheim joined entertainment production company Reveille. Most recently, he worked as a screenwriter.
He replaces Jamie Horowitz as the executive in charge of the program. NBC hired Horowitz—a former ESPN executive—in 2014 to propel the show back to glory, but his stint lasted only 78 days.
As TheWrap reported, Horowitz alienated staffers from the beginning, pitting talent against talent and producers against producers. Once NBC News President Deborah Turness got wind of Horowitz’s “Survivor”-esque ways, she fired him.
The program did have some bright spots in 2014—Matt Lauer landed an exclusive with Ray Rice and his wife Janay after the couple was embroiled in controversy for months due to leaked elevator footage showing Rice knocking his wife out. Lauer also had the first interview with Pippa Middleton; Kate Middleton’s sister.
Turness’ full memo below.
All,
I’m happy to share the news that Noah Oppenheim will return to NBC News as Senior Vice President and Executive in Charge, TODAY.
In this role, Noah will oversee all aspects of the TODAY brand and is responsible for all platforms of TODAY, including broadcast and digital. His mission will be to guide the editorial content, drive growth and integration, and identify strategic opportunities.
TODAY has the best anchor team in morning television, and significant momentum. Thanks to Don Nash and the TODAY staff, the show continues its winning streak in the 18-49 demo, and is narrowing the gap in total viewers and in the 25-54 demo. Meanwhile, TODAY.com had its best month ever in December and is getting three times the mobile traffic of any competitor.
As many of you know, Noah brings both an insider’s and outsider’s perspective to the role, and his breadth of experience spans both hard news and entertainment. He was an Emmy-winning senior producer of TODAY from 2005 to 2008, overseeing the 7:00 am hour. He spent eight years at NBC – including as executive producer of MSNBC’s Scarborough Country, senior producer of Hardball with Chris Matthews, and he contributed to our coverage of two presidential elections and major international news stories. He has spent the last six years in the entertainment industry, most recently as a screenwriter, and prior to that as Head of Unscripted and Digital at Reveille, where he created and executive produced a number of breakthrough broadcast and digital programs. He’s also the co-author of the New York Times bestselling series, The Intellectual Devotional.
Please join me in welcoming Noah back to NBC News and TODAY.
Deborah