Carson Daly 'Today' Host Gig Announced, Will Launch Social Media Segment 'The Orange Room'
Carson Daly has come a long way from hosting MTV top 10 music video countdowns.
"Today" co-host Matt Lauer announced yesterday that the former "TRL" host will be joining the NBC morning news show team. Daly has made numerous appearances on 'Today' over the past several months, filling in for various co-hosts.
The 40-year-old TV personality is also of NBC's "The Voice" and "Last Call with Carson Daly." After the announcement, Daly mentioned that many associate him "with nighttime," but that he's "really a morning person." There was no mention of what will become of "Last Call."
"This feels like a new era of 'Today,'" Daly said. He also revealed that he'll be launching a new segment on "Today" entitled "The Orange Room," a social media area where viewers can get in touch with the "digital doorman," as Daly described.
"I feel like I've been adopted by my first family," he said, sitting next to co-hosts Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Willie Geist. "This feels like an intervention."
Reuters reports that the addition of Daly, as well a new orange set, is attempt for the NBC news show to gain back viewers after the messy departure of anchor Ann Curry in 2012. ABC's "Good Morning America" took over morning ratings lead in Spring 2012, interrupting "Today's" 16-year winning streak.
"We want to be very competitive in the morning wars," Lauer said yesterday from the new set, where he, Guthrie and Roker will begin hosting the show on Monday.
Another way "Today" is trying to regain its viewers, according to NBC News overseer Deborah Turness, is by airing more exclusives and breaking news stories. Interviews with controversial cook Paula Deen and national securities leaker Bradley Manning are prime examples.