Networks never seem to absorb lessons of lineup changes gone bad, NBC most of all, Alessandra Stanley writes. Matt Lauer, the host of NBC’s “Today” show, who may be on the way out, was admirably suave onscreen despite reports that NBC may be seeking a new host. Mr. Lauer’s problems began with his succession last year, when many viewers blamed him when his co-anchor Ann Curry was clumsily cast aside. The drama is not new. More than 20 years ago, NBC replaced Jane Pauley with the younger Deborah Norville; that “Today” show shakeup became a founding fiasco of morning television, and Ms. Norville’s career never recovered.
Barbara Walters, the host of the ABC daytime program “The View,” whose television career has lasted more than 50 years, will retire in 2014, Bill Carter reports. An executive familiar with Ms. Walters’s plans said she would announce her decision this May and that the following year would include a number of retrospectives and specials about her career. Ms. Walters’s health became a national story this year after she suffered a concussion in Washington and developed an infection that turned out to be chicken pox.
Jeffrey Zucker, the new head of CNN, announced Thursday that he would pair Christopher Cuomo, a former ABC anchor he hired in May, with a young Washington correspondent named Kate Bolduan to host a new morning show, Brian Stelter writes. The show will premier in late spring and will replace “Starting Point,” which is hosted by Soledad O’Brien and has done poorly in the ratings.
FX Networks announced that it would add a third channel to its lineup and step up its commitment to original scripted series at an upfront presentation on Thursday, Stuart Elliott writes. The new cable channel, FXX, will be aimed at viewers ages 18 to 34 and will coincide with FX’s introduction of TV everywhere, industry shorthand for technology that lets paying viewers stream content on devices at any time.
Amazon.com, the dominant online bookseller, said on Thursday that it would buy Goodreads, the most visited social media site based around sharing books, Leslie Kaufman reports. Internet sites have become critical places for telling readers about interesting books as bookstores close. The companies did not disclose a purchase price or conditions of the sale, which will close in the next quarter.
Madison Avenue and the automotive industry are fretting over ways to attract millennials to cars and car culture, Stuart Elliott reports. Younger people are buying fewer cars, whether because of shaky finances or lack of interest. Manufacturers like Toyota, which is adding content like music to a new Web site for its Scion brand and beginning to advertise in Teen Vogue, are trying appeal to them.
The third season of “Game of Thrones,” the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” novels, begins with a satisfying slaughter but then falls into a familiar pattern of bursts of action interspersed with lengthening periods of dialogue, Mike Hale writes. Though the intricate fantasy is certainly enjoyable, claims that it is the best show on television may be overblown.
Bob Teague, who joined WNBC-TV in 1963 as one of the city’s first black journalists and worked in various roles in TV news for more than three decades, died on Thursday in New Brunswick, N.J., at 83, Douglas Martin reports.
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