Jenna Wolfe & Amy Robach on ‘Today’ – The Saga Continues (NEW)

SEARCH FOR ALL WOLFE AND ROBACH POSTS BY ENTERING THE NAME IN THE SEARCH BOX IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF THE PAGE

It was another weekend with Jenna Wolfe holding the torch as Sunday ‘Today’ show co-anchor with Lester Holt. Mika Brezinsky (from ‘Morning Joe’ over on MSNBC) read the news. Amy Robach pulled the usual Saturday shift. I continue to be amazed by a lot of things about this ‘Today’ saga.

First, Jenna and Amy are hot on the web. Both are popular search topics (Jenna more than Amy). Both generate a lot of buzz from bloggers. Everyone seems to have taken sides. There are a total of about 60 comments on the topic on my little blog alone. The obvious question is why? Neither Robach nor Wolfe is a major network star for NBC. They’re second string players who obviously are working hard to get to the ‘A team’. But they still get a lot of attention! Don’t get me wrong, saying they’re part of the second string is not a slam. It’s where many people who land on the ‘A team’ start. It CAN be a good thing.

The stark difference in their styles and personalities makes for an uneven feel for the weekend editions of the show. Robach is more focused on the content and engaging the people around her. Wolfe appears more self-deprecating and focused on quick one-line commentaries. Let’s give NBC a little credit though. Someone knows, or thinks they know, something that everyone out in the blogosphere does not. Perhaps NBC has some research that shows there is no audience duplication between Saturday and Sunday audiences. We often really analyze that kind of research in local news to better understand when people watch news and how often they watch another newscast. That research would give NBC a different audience of loyalists for each day. It would also allow different anchors… and even different types of shows if they wanted. I doubt that the issue is that clear though. If you read many of the discussion boards, you’ll find posts similar to this: “Today Dec.30th I am finally sick of weekend today. The show is so stunted with Jenna. Please just use Amy Robach as a co-anchor, Jenna is like nails on a chalk board and anyone watching both shows can see the Saturday team works and the Sunday team is horrible....I’m on CBS Sundays till this mess is solved.”

No doubt NBC is looking to grow talent. I’ve talked about that in previous posts. But the perception that NBC can’t make a decision on the weekend edition of ‘Today’ leaves them vulnerable. Negative perceptions are always dangerous because they can drive a loyal audience member away from the product (Yes I know you can’t please all the people all the time). One person who commented on a previous post said I loved to slam NBC and that I obviously disliked them. That’s far from the truth. I grew up watching Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley as my favorites. I’ve always watched NBC News as a first choice. But over the last few years, I have drifted to other networks, other shows and other anchors (ABC, Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer). I find myself always coming back to NBC though to try to find the comfort level I once had watching that network news operation.

If you find other stories and other sites about Jenna Wolfe and Amy Robach, please add them to the comments below. It seems we may be talking about this for many months to come.

CHECK OUT PAST POSTS ABOUT WOLFE, ROBACH, 'TODAY'
Endless Fascination With Wolfe
Jenna Wolfe & Weekend 'Today': Is OK Enough?
Robach Back, Wolfe Reading News
What In The World Has Happened To Weekend 'Today'
See A Sample Of Other User Comments About Wolfe, Robach
CHECK OUT OTHER POPULAR POSTS
CNN's Rick Sanchez 'Out In The Open' Really 'Out Of Control'
PageSix.com Launches; Did TMZ Respond?
Keith Olbermann To Lou Dobbs: 'World's Worst"

WHILE YOU'RE HERE....