‘Today’ Show Suffering Because of Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer is so yesterday.

TV industry insiders say no amount of NBC executive reshuffling can save the embattled “Today” show — until its longtime co-host throws in the towel.

Lauer has been blamed for the show’s ratings woes, which intensified in June when co-host Ann Curry was suddenly ditched and replaced by Savannah Guthrie.

“This problem is not going to go away until Matt Lauer does,” a prominent former NBC News exec told the Daily News on Tuesday. “He’s great, but fairly or unfairly, his brand is damaged.”

The sentiment comes just as a new production team is poised to take over “Today,” which has fallen into second place this year behind archrival “Good Morning America” in the cutthroat ratings race.

Many in the television news industry believe that the show lost its dominant place in morning TV because it became stale under Bell’s watch.

“You look at ‘GMA’ and they’ve got it going. They come across like a family, and the approach is appealing and feels fresh,” a high-ranking TV news insider told The News on condition of anonymity. “They’ve got that morning TV chemistry, which the current regime at ‘Today’ just seems to have let slip away.”

Former co-host Katie Couric recently told The News that she believed another issue with “Today” was that the show had gotten too soft and lost part of its focus on hard news.

A good example of that was how, on this year’s anniversary of 9/11, Bell chose to air a mindless interview with Kim Kardashian’s mom, Kris Jenner — in which she rambled on about her breast implants — rather than air a moment of silence at Ground Zero.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/lauer-brand-damaged-ex-nbc-news-exec-article-1.1201673#ixzz2CUnoxyXk

TUNE IN: Free Diabetes Podcast Inspired by Chaka Khan celebrating National Diabetes Awareness Month with guests: Constance Brown-Riggs MSEd, RD, CDE, Pam Butler MS, CDE, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, cookbook author Holly Clegg, Mama Rose Marie and Ginger Vieira, from Burlington, VT living with type 1 diabetes

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/11/13/diabetes-roundtable-inspired-by-chaka-kahn
See Mr. Divabetic‘s nutrition game, Serve, Taste or Trash! You must decide which one you’d serve, which one you’d taste and which one you’d trash.

Before you decide to “trash” a veggie for good, why not try to eat it raw? Raw veggies can be more appetizing than their cooked counterparts to people who aren’t crazy about vegetables. The flavors of raw veggies can be milder than those of cooked ones.

See Mr. Divabetic live in Tucson, AZ, Santa Clara, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Savannah, GA and Bethesda, MD in 2013. Get more details at www.divabetic.org 

Jessica Simpson Reveals Post-Baby Body!

Don’t doubt a diva! Jessica Simpson‘s hard work has paid off.

The new mom, 32, was all smiles when she sat down with Katie Couric on the debut of Katie, where she revealed her post-baby body.

“On my way to @katiecouric’s show! I’m her very first guest – Wish me luck!! #WeightWatchers,” she Tweeted before the big reveal, also sharing the photo above.

Just weeks after welcoming daughter Maxwell Drew with fiancé Eric Johnson on May 1, Simpson embarked on a weight-loss plan with Weight Watchers.

Announcing that she’s lost more than 40 lbs. since giving birth, Simpson told the talk show host, “My doctors told me [my pregnancy weight] was a lot of water, and when my water broke … All the weight did not come out with the baby. I had to stay focused on my diet. I want to be as healthy as I can because I’m a mom now.”

Simpson adds that she is currently 10 lbs. from her pre-baby weight, so moving forward, “I set small goals for myself. I’ve lost weight every week, thank God, but I’ve worked really hard. I have to shoot a new season of Fashion Star.”

A new outlook on food has helped.

“The only fish I ever ate was a fish stick,” Simpson says, adding that she also loved chips, guacamole and queso. “Now I’m trying to eat fish.”

She adds, “I definitely don’t pick up the magazines. I definitely don’t Google my name. I try to avoid it completely. But I subconsciously know the talk is going on. Every day it’s a struggle for me. Weight Watchers is not intimidating. It’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle.”

Simpson, who admits she “put on more baby weight than I was planning,” isn’t ashamed of her former body.

“I have to separate myself from the world’s expectations,” she says. “I have to look inside myself. I want to be a role model.”

The new mom gave fans a sneak peek of her new figure when she was snapped by paparazzi on Sunday.

“I think anybody who’s gone through a pregnancy, after they have the baby, it’s like, ‘I need to do something about this,’ ” she told PEOPLE at the time. “For me, I really want to do something that is a lifestyle, because in the past, I’ve been known to yo-yo diet.”

Even though Simpson is getting her body back now, that doesn’t mean she’s rushing to slip into a wedding gown.

She and Johnson “have not set a date,” Simpson told Couric. “It won’t be this year. We haven’t had time. Maxwell has taken up all our time and I want a big wedding.”

Of her hubby-to-be, Simpson gushes, “People call him the best dad in the world. He can do everything. He’s just a very peaceful person.”

Don’t miss Divabetic’s free monthly podcast, Diabetes Roundtable inspired by Taylor Swift scheduled for Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 6 -6:30 PM, EST.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/09/11/diabetes-roundtable-inspired-by-mystery-diva

Free Diabetes Podcast Inspired by Katy Perry http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/07/10/diabetes-roundtable-inspired-by-katy-perry

The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic hosts the roving red TOMATO carpet at the 66th Annual Tony® Awards at the Beacon Theater in New York  to talk about divas, dazzle and diabetes.

Free Diabetes Podcast inspired by Whitney Houston hosted by Mr. Divabetic featuring the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Mama Rose Marie and real-life diva, Emily C. from San Francisco! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/08/07/diabetes-roundtable-inspired-by-whitney-houston

Mr. Divabetic hosts the roving red TOMATO carpet at the 3rd Annual Bake Bethesda A Pie Contest at Central Farm Markets, Bethesda, MD

LISTEN NOW: Free Diabetes & Exercise Podcast hosted by Mr Divabetic http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/05/01/studio-d–diabetes-and-exercixe