`HEIR APPARENT' LAUER TO SUCCEED GUMBEL.Byline: Associated Press Matt Lauer was named Bryant Gumbel's successor as host of the ``Today'' show Monday in a move so widely anticipated he used to joke that people expected to see ``heir apparent'' on his office door. Lauer, newscaster on the top-rated morning program for the past three years, will have his first day as co-host with Katie Couric on Jan. 6. The 38-year-old Lauer had been groomed for the job almost from the start, filling in as host when Gumbel went on vacation. NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. is hoping for a seamless transition for ``Today,'' which has been beating ABC's ``Good Morning America'' and other challengers by growing margins in the ratings over the past year. ``I hope that people don't tune in on Monday the 6th expecting to see me doing my imitation of Bryant Gumbel,'' Lauer said. ``I just think that would be the wrong idea. The only thing I can do is rely on what I've done for the past three years ... and hope the response is good.'' It caps a meteoric me·te·or·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or formed by a meteoroid. 2. Of or relating to the earth's atmosphere. 3. rise for Lauer, from Chappaqua, N.Y. He bounced around in TV jobs in West Virginia; Virginia; Providence, R.I.; Boston; and Philadelphia - then considered quitting after being fired as a local talk-show host in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. five years ago. But he landed a job as a weekend anchor at WNBC WNBC Wearing Nothing But Chainmail in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , moved into a weeknight week·night n. A night of the week exclusive of Saturday and Sunday. week  nights slot and was quickly noticed by network executives for his unflappability on the air. Lauer's selection as Gumbel's successor was such an open secret it barely caused a stir when it was noted publicly last week that NBC was advertising internally for an executive secretary to ``Today co-anchor M. Lauer.'' Lauer said he celebrated the new job with a weekend of golf in Florida with Gumbel a few weeks ago. But he never asked Gumbel for any advice. ``Bryant's not an advice giver,'' Lauer said. ``The way I think you learn from Bryant and Katie is a little bit by osmosis osmosis (ŏzmō`sĭs), transfer of a liquid solvent through a semipermeable membrane that does not allow dissolved solids (solutes) to pass. Osmosis refers only to transfer of solvent; transfer of solute is called dialysis. .'' He will follow Dave Garroway, Tom Brokaw, Hugh Downs and John Chancellor as male hosts on the long-running show, which debuted on Jan. 14, 1952. Gumbel is stepping down as host after 15 years on Jan. 3, and the program that day will be a two-hour tribute to him. He hasn't said what he's doing next. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: no caption (Matt Lauer) |
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