After two months away while her family dealt with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie made her “Today Show” return on April 6. Inside NBC, the mood was reportedly hopeful with a familiar face returning and with a chance to pull ahead in a morning-show race that has only gotten harder with more competitors. But one media insider claims that the comeback did not match the expectations.
Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Today’ show return ‘didn’t turn out to be’ what NBC hoped for, per expert
On The Megyn Kelly Show, entertainment journalist Rob Shuter said NBC braced for a major scene upon Savannah Guthrie’s return to the “Today Show” months after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing.
Shuter claimed, “Everybody at NBC thought there were going to be hundreds of people, if not thousands of people, in the plaza.” He added, “They’d hired extra security,” and compared what they expected to a crowd people would see outside “a pop concert like Justin Bieber” — but that did not happen.
Instead, Shuter highlighted that the crowd looked far from massive. And while the show did see a bump, he said it did not meet the expectations of a big moment that reportedly executives wanted, claiming, “The Savannah card, the Savannah moment didn’t quite turn out to be what they wanted” from the grand comeback.
Ratings reflect the same, with Kelly citing weekly numbers that show “Today” rose 6% in total viewers and 2% in the Adults 25–54 demo.
Moreover, Kelly argued that the bigger issue may be star power in the morning TV world, claiming, “Savannah was never a big star,” and Shuter agreed that the era has changed. He recalled how recognizable past “Today” anchors once were, and added, “Nobody recognizes them. It’s just a different era.”
Savannah Guthrie’s return to the “Today Show” still mattered. The audience rose, and the show stabilized during a difficult time — but if executives expected a huge public wave and a major ratings win, Shuter’s reporting suggests NBC did not get it.
