I think ABC has the most-feared team of bookers right now. But I bet people at ABC think NBC's bookers are scarier.

I put most of the blame on the producers. While Matt consented to what happened, it wasn't his idea, nor did he want it to happen the way it did.

They're definitely a part of the "family." (Witness Hoda filling in for Savannah recently.) I would have loved to devote a chapter or two to the 10 a.m. hour, I just couldn't find a way to fit it in. Maybe in the sequel....

Thanks! The show is only a blip in my book because for its first year, 2012, it didn't really gain or lose viewers... it just sort of existed. But so far this year it's been gaining viewers at a pretty impressive clip. Maybe viewers are catching on.

Excellent questions for my sequel.

I think ABC has the most-feared bookers right now. But I bet the folks at ABC think NBC's bookers are scarier.

I feel like this comment might be a trap.

They're definitely considered to be part of the "family." (Witness Hoda filling in for Savannah recently.) I would have loved to devote a whole chapter or two to the 10 a.m. hour... I just couldn't find a way to fit them in.

I agree. Ann has told friends that she feels betrayed by Matt. But this had more to do with the producers/executives than with him. Unfortunately, those producers never really came out and explained why they were doing what they were doing. All viewers saw was Ann crying and Matt wincing, so they went after Matt (who,…

I love your soap operas analogy.

I agree with you. In early 2011, there was considerable debate about whether to promote her. But I'd argue it was too late by then. If NBC was going to promote someone else, they would have had to start grooming that someone in 2009 and 2010. Then they would have had to ease Ann out of the news anchor spot. But there…

There were always staffers at the show who thought Ann was flighty and off-the-wall. But this was viewed as an asset at best, and humorous at worst, until she was promoted, at which time it started being viewed (by some staffers, not all) as a huge hindrance. There was a pretty clear effort to undermine her, publicly…

I don't know about emasculating. But they're definitely drawing more attention to the rough year he's had. I can't imagine that it's helpful for the show.

There was a lot of apprehension about having Bryant Gumbel take over the show in the early 1980s, but his race hardly seemed to be a factor once he replaced Tom Brokaw.

I know a lot of secrets (at least I think I do) but I don't know the secrets about Tamron's contract. I would be stunned if she doesn't assume a bigger role on the show sometime soon. In the meantime she's been filling in an awful lot, which seems like a good sign.

Here's another factor: he's real-life friends with Savannah Guthrie. That counts for a lot, because it suggests that they'd have good chemistry together.

I have — I was on "Good Morning America" (requisite link here), "CBS This Morning," CNN's morning show, and "Morning Edition" on NPR. None of the morning shows owned by NBC have had me on. Yet. (I'm holding out hope.)

I interviewed dozens of female producers and writers on background, meaning, they're not quoted by name but they helped inform the book. By some counts, more women than men work at these shows. But yes, the bosses are almost all men. "GMA" had a female executive producer for five years, Shelley Ross, but that was the…

"Don't know how to use computers" is funny. The shows are gonna have to get better about not just recycling viral videos. Although I do enjoy when they bring on the subjects of those videos... when they do that, they're actually "adding value" (forgive me for the corporate-speak).

That comment stood out to me, too. Maybe this is the cynic in me, but I think she's done a good job of hiding her ambition. Relatively little was written, for instance, when she was passed over for the co-host chair in 2006, even though she'd been dreaming about replacing Katie Couric for years. In retrospect people…