The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both dissect the current situation at NBC News today in the wake of reports that Ann Curry is leading flagship morning show, “Today.”

The show recently slipped out of its top slot recently for the first time in 16 years and its profitability has been threatened. It collected $485M in ad revenue in 2011 during the 7-9am slot while “Good Morning America” took in $299M. “GMA’s” ability to gain in the ratings race now gives advertisers some leverage, says The Journal.

But “Today” is not all that ails NBC News. The NYT says NBC executives are facing a new narrative and that for the first time in more than a decade, “NBC News appears adrift.”

“Meet the Press” the net’s public-affairs show, has been atop the Sunday ratings for years but lately it’s getting beaten by CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

On weeknights, “ABC World News” has been gaining on “NBC Nightly News,” which has lost the most viewers this season to date of all the network newscasts in the 25-to-54 demographic that advertisers covet, The Journal notes.

Meanwhile, new show, “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” is off to a slow start.

“When you’re the industry leader, everyone is going to be gunning for you all the time,” Steve Capus, president of NBC News, told The Journal. “We don’t sit back and assume that we’ve got it all figured out.”

“Where it counts we have not had slippage,” Capus told The NYT. “That’s what’s real. The rest is spin and noise.”
Although the news division continues to generate profits, primetime has struggled. Still, owner Comcast also emphasizes that NBC News is less than 1% of its operating cash flow.

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said the company “couldn’t be prouder” of the news division.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304898704577481064164382938.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/business/media/nbc-news-faces-shift-in-television-dominance.html?ref=business