Matt Lauer may be able to stay on Today for as long as he wishes, but that may only end up being until his contract runs out. Early rumors are indicating that Lauer is at the top of the pile of names being looked at to potentially take over for Alex Trebek on the long-running series Jeopardy in 2016.
Trebek’s health has not been the best in recent years, having had two heart attacks, but the NY Post says he has signed one last three-year contract in order to give Jeopardy’s production company, Sony Pictures Television, time to find a host. The current frontrunners are Lauer and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who both have contracts coming up for renewal in the next couple of years. According to the outlet, the original idea was to have Lauer pull double duty, but with Lauer’s tenure on Today up in the air, the man may not have to.
Lauer has come under fire recently after Today’s parent network, NBC, botched the removal of Ann Curry from the show, which was also widely credited to Lauer’s decision-making. Though both the host and NBC have since said the Curry decision is not the 55-year-old’s fault, Today has been continuously dropping in the ratings since.
Sony is still in the early stages of the decision-making process, so we’ll have to see how the decision pans out. Either way, I don’t think they can go wrong with Lauer or Cooper.
