NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Early morning news junkies will get more "Today" next month when NBC News debuts a fourth hour of the market-leading franchise televised from New York.
The fourth hour of the show, debuting Sept. 10, will be carried at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. by 90 percent of NBC stations, Variety reported Wednesday. It will be staffed by "Today" news anchor Ann Curry, national correspondent Natalie Morales and correspondent Hoda Kotb.
Executive Producer Jim Bell said the fourth hour will model the third hour, focusing on lifestyle, health and culinary information and may update earlier stories with viewer feedback and analysis. When "Today" updates the first hour for the West Coast, the staff must produce two hours of live TV simultaneously.
"We are built technically and editorially for it," Bell said. "We can update Matt (Lauer) and Meredith (Vieira) at 10 a.m. (Eastern time) for the West Coast update and continue with the fourth hour in two different control rooms."
