''Weekend Today'' is currently the branding of the weekend editions of ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'', an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
morning news and talk program that airs daily on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. Weekend editions of ''Today'', began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987.
The Saturday edition of the program titled ''Saturday Today'' (started March 2022) broadcast live in alignment with the weekday editions of ''Today'' from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.
Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
. (Since 2017, however, the Saturday broadcast is frequently shortened by a half-hour (sometimes even shorter/preempted due to earlier sports start times) to accommodate
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
soccer matches or other
sports events
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...
that start before 1:00 p.m. ET, allowing NBC stations to also accommodate programs from ''
The More You Know
''The More You Know'' is a series of public service announcements (PSAs) broadcast on the NBC family of channels in the United States and other locations, featuring educational messages. These PSAs are broadcast occasionally during NBC's networ ...
'' block displaced from their normal timeslots to fulfill
educational content quotas.) Some affiliates outside the Eastern Time Zone air it live, and others on
tape-delay. Thus, it may air on some NBC stations as early as 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. local time.
Meanwhile, the Sunday edition, titled ''Sunday Today with
Willie Geist
William Russell Geist (born May 3, 1975) is an American television personality and journalist. He is co-anchor of MSNBC's ''Morning Joe'' and anchor of ''Sunday Today with Willie Geist''. Geist also frequently serves as a fill-in anchor on bot ...
'' since April 17, 2016, airs from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. ET. Some NBC affiliates choose to air local morning newscasts before and after both Saturday and Sunday editions of the program.
History
The Sunday edition of ''Today'' (titled ''Sunday Today'') premiered on September 20, 1987, and was originally hosted by
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...
and
Boyd Matson
Boyd Matson (born April 26, 1947) is the former anchor of ''National Geographic Explorer'' and a former co-anchor of NBC's '' Sunday Today'' program. He was also an NBC News correspondent in the 1980s, working mostly on news features and earlier ...
, with
Garrick Utley
Clifton Garrick Utley (November 19, 1939 – February 20, 2014) was an American television journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent coverin ...
as news anchor. The program was broadcast from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., followed by ''
Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
''. It was the second morning news program to run weekend editions,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
previously attempted a six-day-a-week morning news program under the "Morning" banner in 1979, the only surviving remnant of which is the newsmagazine ''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
''.
Utley replaced Matson as co-anchor on March 20, 1988. Shriver, weather anchor
Al Roker
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...
and sports anchor
Bill Macatee
Bill Macatee (born November 17, 1955) is an American sports broadcaster for CBS Sports and Tennis Channel.
Early life and career
Macatee was born in Rome, New York, and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Burges High School in El Pas ...
continued with the program. In 1989, production of ''Sunday Today'' moved to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to allow Utley to also serve as moderator of ''
Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
''.
On November 12, 1989, a special edition of ''Sunday Today'' featured Utley in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
covering the fall of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
earlier that week, with Shriver hosting from
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
and Roker in New York City. At the end of the broadcast, Utley mentioned that Shriver was leaving the show to go on maternity leave. NBC News national correspondent (and eventual co-anchor of the weekday edition of ''Today'')
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
became substitute anchor during Shriver's absence.
Maria Shriver returned from maternity leave on April 8, 1990, to ''Sunday Today'' and announced that she would be leaving the show after that day's broadcast. Couric was named interim co-anchor until
Mary Alice Williams
Mary Alice Williams (born March 12, 1949) is a former co-anchor of NBC's ''Weekend Today'' and a former anchor and news division Vice President on CNN. She most recently served as the anchor of NJTV News on New Jersey's public television networ ...
became the new co-anchor later that month. Production of the Sunday program returned to New York City when Utley left ''Meet the Press'' in 1991.
The ''Today'' franchise expanded to seven days a week with the premiere of the program's Saturday edition on August 1, 1992, coinciding with NBC's replacement of its Saturday morning children's programming block with the three-hour-long ''
TNBC
TNBC (or Teen NBC) was an American teen-oriented television programming block that aired on NBC from September 12, 1992, to September 28, 2002. The Saturday morning block featured live-action series – primarily in the form of scripted teen si ...
'' block. The weekend editions were initially titled ''Saturday Today'' or ''Sunday Today'', as applicable, in order to distinguish them from the weekday program. Beginning in the late 1990s, all editions of the program were officially titled ''Today'', although ''Weekend Today'' was still sometimes used for promotional purposes. The Sunday program was once again titled "Sunday Today" when Willie Geist became solo anchor in 2016.
Amy Robach
Amy Joanne Robach (born February 6, 1973) is an American television reporter for ABC News. She is the co-anchor of ''20/20'' and the breaking news anchor/fill-in anchor for '' Good Morning America''. She was a national correspondent for NBC N ...
,
Natalie Morales and
Melissa Francis
Melissa Ann Francis (born December 12, 1972) is an American television news personality who most recently appeared as an anchor and commentator for the Fox Business Network (FBN) and Fox News (FNC). Previously, she worked as an actress.
Prior t ...
rotated as news anchor during much of the Brown and Holt era (2003–2007). From 1988 (when Utley became co-anchor) until 2012 (when
Jenna Wolfe became the program's news anchor), ''Weekend Today'' did not have a designated news anchor. During that time, a different
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
,
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
, or
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
correspondent would fill that position each week.
Lester Holt
Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...
left the program in 2015 following his promotion to lead anchor of ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
''. (Holt had been anchoring both the weekend editions of ''Today'' and ''Nightly News'' prior to his reassignment.)
In January 2020, the Saturday edition abruptly relocated production to NBC News'
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
bureau, originating from the ''Meet the Press'' studio, in order to limit the risk of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
transmission to the anchors via air travel. (Saturday anchors Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker had both been based out of the division's D.C. bureau, though Alexander had been commuting to New York City to anchor that edition from the
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
studio since being named co-anchor in 2018.) The broadcast permanently relocated to the news division's refurbished D.C. bureau facility (near
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
) in December 2020, as one of several NBC and MSNBC programs to broadcast from the building.
Format
The weekend broadcasts continue ''Today''s format of covering breaking news stories, featuring interviews with newsmakers, reports on a variety of popular culture and human-interest stories, covering health and financial issues and presenting the day's national weather forecasts. As with the weekday edition, the program offers visitors to New York City the chance to observe the workings of a live television broadcast firsthand with its windowed studio at
Rockefeller Plaza
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
. Interaction with the crowd outside the studio is a major part of the program.
Weekend editions are tailored to the priorities and interests of weekend viewers – offering special series such as ''Saturday Today on the Plaza'', featuring live performances by well-known and up-and-coming music acts and numbers from
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
productions outside the studio throughout the summer. The Sunday edition also features brief political discussions with ''Meet the Press'' moderator
Chuck Todd
Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who is the 12th and current moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He also hosts ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition on NBC News Now and is the Political Directo ...
, who also gives a preview of that day's edition of the
political discussion show (which follows ''Sunday Today'', depending on local scheduling of newscasts, local
political affairs
''Political Affairs Magazine'' was a monthly Marxist publication, originally published in print and later online only. It aimed to provide an analysis of events from a working class point of view. The magazine was a publication of the Communist P ...
programs or
brokered programming
Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
that may air between both programs).
Since the adoption of the ''Sunday Today'' format in 2016, the Sunday edition does not feature a national weather segment; instead the weather reports during that broadcast are presented as live or recorded cut-ins produced by the corresponding local NBC station.
Just like their weekday counterparts, the weekend broadcasts provide local stations the
option to offer brief news and weather segments following the national weather segments (on the Saturday edition) and in designated five-minute slots at the end of each half-hour. (NBC stations that do not produce weekend morning newscasts may opt to either run a taped weather insert, or run the national forecast slide and filler content that occupies the respective local segment slots on the network feed.)
On-air staff
''Saturday Today'' is anchored by
Peter Alexander Peter Alexander may refer to:
* Pete Alexander (born Grover Cleveland Alexander; 1887–1950), American baseball player
* Peter Alexander (Shakespearean scholar) (1893–1969), professor of English language and literature at the University of Glasgo ...
and
Kristen Welker
Kristen Welker (born July 1, 1976) is an American television journalist working for NBC News. She serves as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and co-anchor of '' Weekend Today'', the Saturday edition of ''Today'', alongside ...
alongside co-host
Joe Fryer (features anchor) from Washington D.C., and ''Sunday Today'' is anchored by
Willie Geist
William Russell Geist (born May 3, 1975) is an American television personality and journalist. He is co-anchor of MSNBC's ''Morning Joe'' and anchor of ''Sunday Today with Willie Geist''. Geist also frequently serves as a fill-in anchor on bot ...
from New York City. Alexander was named co-host on October 27, 2018. Welker was named co-host on January 11, 2020. Somara Theodore delivers the forecast on the Saturday edition.
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Marie Dreyer (born August 2, 1981) is an American television meteorologist working for NBC News. She is also an anchor on Today's 3rd Hour. Dreyer frequently appears on ''Today'' on weekdays as a weather correspondent and as a fill-in for ...
delivered the forecast on the Saturday edition until 2022. (As mentioned, there are no national weather segments on Sundays.)
Occasionally,
Hallie Jackson
Hallie Marie Jackson (born April 29, 1984) is Senior Washington correspondent for NBC News, an anchor for both its cable and streaming divisions, MSNBC and NBC News Now, a fill-in and substitute anchor for ''Today'', Sunday Today With Willie Ge ...
,
Morgan Radford
Morgan Kelly Radford (born November 18, 1987) is an American television news anchor & reporter employed by NBC News as a New York-based correspondent.
Early life and education
Radford is originally from Greensboro, North Carolina. Her mothe ...
, and
Joe Fryer fill-in for Welker and Alexander.
Hallie Jackson
Hallie Marie Jackson (born April 29, 1984) is Senior Washington correspondent for NBC News, an anchor for both its cable and streaming divisions, MSNBC and NBC News Now, a fill-in and substitute anchor for ''Today'', Sunday Today With Willie Ge ...
fills-in for Geist. NBC meteorologist
Bill Karins
William J. Karins (born April 14, 1974) is an American meteorologist, working for NBC News. He is currently seen primarily on NBC's ''Early Today'' and '' Top Story with Tom Llamas''. He also occasionally reports weekdays for MSNBC's '' First L ...
fills-in for Theodore.
Joelle Garguilo
Joelle Garguilo is an American journalist, host, digital journalist and reporter, working for NBC Universal, appearing on all platforms, including NBC News, ''Today'', today.com, msnbc.com, iVillage and WNBC, incl. daily lifestyle show "New Y ...
is a correspondent for ''Weekend Today''.
Former anchors
''Sunday Today''
*
Boyd Matson
Boyd Matson (born April 26, 1947) is the former anchor of ''National Geographic Explorer'' and a former co-anchor of NBC's '' Sunday Today'' program. He was also an NBC News correspondent in the 1980s, working mostly on news features and earlier ...
– co-anchor (1987–1988)
*
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...
– co-anchor (1987–1990)
*
Garrick Utley
Clifton Garrick Utley (November 19, 1939 – February 20, 2014) was an American television journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent coverin ...
– news anchor (1987–1988), co-anchor (1988–1992)
*
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
– co-anchor (1990)
*
Mary Alice Williams
Mary Alice Williams (born March 12, 1949) is a former co-anchor of NBC's ''Weekend Today'' and a former anchor and news division Vice President on CNN. She most recently served as the anchor of NJTV News on New Jersey's public television networ ...
– co-anchor (1990–1992)
*
Al Roker
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...
– weather anchor/substitute anchor (1987–1992), co-anchor (1991–1992)
*
Bill Macatee
Bill Macatee (born November 17, 1955) is an American sports broadcaster for CBS Sports and Tennis Channel.
Early life and career
Macatee was born in Rome, New York, and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Burges High School in El Pas ...
– sports anchor (1987–1992)
''Weekend Today''
*
Scott Simon
Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR.
Early life
Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons.[ ...]
(1992–1993)
*
Jackie Nespral
Jackie Nespral (born April 21, 1966) is an American television anchor for WTVJ, the NBC owned and operated station in Miami.
Early years and education
Nespral was born in Florida. both her parents are Cuban. She grew up in the Little Havana ar ...
(1992–1995)
*
Mike Schneider (1993–1995)
*
Giselle Fernández
Giselle Fernández (born May 15, 1961) is an American television journalist and anchor for Spectrum News 1. Her appearances on network television include reporting and guest anchoring for ''CBS Early Show'', ''CBS Evening News'', ''Today'', and ...
(1995–1996)
*
Jack Ford (1995–1999)
*
Ann Curry
Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist and photojournalist, who has been a reporter for more than 30 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, S ...
(1996)
*
(1996–1999)
*
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
(1999–2003)
*
John Seigenthaler
John Lawrence Seigenthaler ( ; July 27, 1927 – July 11, 2014) was an American journalist, writer, and political figure. He was known as a prominent defender of First Amendment rights.
Seigenthaler joined the Nashville newspaper ''The ...
(1999–2000; 2003)
*
David Bloom
David Jerome Bloom (May 22, 1963 – April 6, 2003) was an American television journalist (co-anchor of ''Weekend Today'' and reporter) until his sudden death in 2003 after a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) became a pulmonary embolism.
Early an ...
(1999; 2000–2003)
*
Campbell Brown (2003–2007)
*
Lester Holt
Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...
(2003–2015)
*
Amy Robach
Amy Joanne Robach (born February 6, 1973) is an American television reporter for ABC News. She is the co-anchor of ''20/20'' and the breaking news anchor/fill-in anchor for '' Good Morning America''. She was a national correspondent for NBC N ...
– news anchor (2003–2007), Saturday co-anchor (2007–2012)
*
Jenna Wolfe – Sunday co-anchor (2007–2012), Saturday and/or Sunday co-anchor (2012), news anchor (2012–2014)
*
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
(2012–2016)
*
Sheinelle Jones
Sheinelle Marie Jones (born April 19, 1978) is an American journalist and a news anchor and correspondent for NBC News. She is one of the hosts of the third hour of ''Today'' on weekdays.
She is also the host of the educational nature program '' ...
– news anchor (2014–2016), co-anchor (2016–2019)
*
Craig Melvin
Craig Delano Melvin (born May 20, 1979) is an American broadcast journalist and anchor at NBC News and MSNBC. In August 2018, he became a news anchor on NBC's ''Today'' and, in October 2018, a co-host of ''Today Third Hour'' before being made ...
— co-anchor (2015–2018)
*
Stephanie Ruhle — Saturday co-anchor (2016)
Weather anchors
*
Al Roker
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...
– Saturday weather anchor (1992–1995)
*
Joe Witte
Joe Witte (born 1943) is currently an Outreach Specialist for Aquent, a contractor of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. He adapts science content for use by 2,000 television meteorologists around the country.
Joe Witte started his career as a gla ...
– Sunday weather anchor (1992–1995)
*
Janice Huff
Janice Huff (born September 1, 1960) is the chief meteorologist for WNBC in New York City.
Early years
As she has sometimes noted on her newscast, though born in New York City, at an early age she moved to her grandparents house in Columbia, South ...
– Saturday and/or Sunday weather anchor (1995–2012)
*
Sean McLaughlin – Sunday weather anchor (2004–2006)
*
Chris Cimino
Chris Cimino (born April 27, 1961) is a meteorologist on WPIX "New York's very own" early morning show 4AM-6AM. Chris also hosts New York Living, a new lifestyle show on WPIX.
Chris was the meteorologist on WNBC television's early-morning news p ...
– Saturday weather anchor (2008)
*
Bill Karins
William J. Karins (born April 14, 1974) is an American meteorologist, working for NBC News. He is currently seen primarily on NBC's ''Early Today'' and '' Top Story with Tom Llamas''. He also occasionally reports weekdays for MSNBC's '' First L ...
– Saturday weather anchor (2009–2012)
*
Stephanie Abrams
Stephanie Abrams (born October 27, 1978) is an American television meteorologist who has worked for The Weather Channel (TWC) since 2003. She currently co-hosts '' AMHQ'' with Jen Carfagno and Jim Cantore early weekday mornings.
She is also empl ...
– Saturday & Sunday weather anchor (2012)
*
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Marie Dreyer (born August 2, 1981) is an American television meteorologist working for NBC News. She is also an anchor on Today's 3rd Hour. Dreyer frequently appears on ''Today'' on weekdays as a weather correspondent and as a fill-in for ...
– Saturday (2012–2022) & Sunday weather anchor (2012–2019)
Theme music
''Scherzo for Today'' was used as the program's closing theme until
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, and the ''Mission'' bumpers were used until
1993 (one of them could be heard as a station break lead-in on NBC's ''
Meet The Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
'' until
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
). The ''Scherzo for Today'' theme was iconically accompanied by
Fred Facey
Ferdinand A. Facey (October 19, 1930 – April 13, 2003), known as Fred Facey, was an American radio and television announcer.
Career
Facey joined the announcing staff of NBC in New York City in 1967, and remained with the network for the res ...
announcing "From NBC News, this is ''Today''..." until his death in April 2003, except for special editions requiring special introductions. Facey's work afterwards was only heard on the now-defunct
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
program ''
Headliners and Legends
''MSNBC Documentaries'' is the umbrella title of a series of documentaries co-produced by NBC News and MSNBC.
Broadcast on MSNBC, each documentary is given its own title to broadcast under (e.g., ''Lockup: Return to Pelican Bay'') or has been p ...
''. For a time early in the original ''Sunday Today'' run; the ''Scherzo for Today'' theme was preceded by a recap of clips of stories from the previous week set to "Freightways" by Graham De Wilde.
The ''Mission'' cut used as the opening fanfare for ''Today'' has opened the program ever since, with two exceptions: in the summer of
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
, to mark the debut of Studio 1A, the
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
-composed fanfare was replaced by another opening theme, but the Williams theme returned shortly thereafter. In 2004, the show's producers tried out yet another theme, which drew once again on the
NBC chimes
The NBC chimes are a sequence of three tones played on National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcasts. Originally developed in 1927 as seven notes, they were standardized to the current three-note version by the early 1930s, and possibly as early ...
as its signature, but the Williams theme returned after only a few weeks. It is by far the most enduring theme in the program's history, having been in use for over two decades. In March 2013, "The Mission" was replaced with a theme by Adam Gubman for Non-Stop Music, which is based partly on the ''Mission'' theme. A lighter theme employing the NBC chimes is currently used to open the show's 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. half-hour segments, and is also used as a closing theme.
Special editions
Following the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texa ...
on February 1, 2003, the Sunday edition of ''Weekend Today'' aired a special edition on February 2, with the expanded introduction:
The next edition on February 3 was also a special broadcast with
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
at Studio 1A in New York and
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
On April 6, 2003, the death of co-anchor David Bloom in Iraq (caused by a
blood clot
A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...
resulting from
deepvein thrombosis) dominated that day's edition. Soledad O'Brien,
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
, and Katie Couric stationed in Washington DC, hosted a special edition of ''Today'' in remembrance of Bloom.
When
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
died on Saturday, April 2, 2005, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer anchored the weekend editions of ''Today''. Lauer anchored from
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
with Campbell Brown offering reports by his side. On the day of the Pope's death, Couric anchored a special report on a Vatican statement updating the Pope's dire condition and Lauer reported for the special report anchored by
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...
, when the Pope was officially declared dead. Lauer returned to New York City as Couric traveled to Vatican City to co-anchor coverage of the Pope's funeral with Williams.
On April 19, 2008, a special edition of ''Weekend Today'' featured
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
's visit to the United States, billed as "The Pope Visits the USA."
Lester Holt
Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...
and
Jenna Wolfe moved outside to
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
to cover the first papal mass at
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. However, they moved back to Studio 1A at the 7:30 a.m. half-hour.
On May 10, 2008, ''Weekend Today'' featured a special split-location edition covering the wedding of
Jenna Bush
Jenna Welch Bush Hager (born November 25, 1981) is an American news personality, author, and journalist. She is the co-host of ''Today with Hoda & Jenna'', the fourth hour of NBC's morning news program ''Today.'' Hager and her fraternal twin sist ...
at the ranch of President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
outside
Crawford, Texas
Crawford is a town located in western McLennan County, Texas, United States.
Crawford is part of the Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 887.
The town was incorporated on August 12, 1897. ...
. Co-anchor Lester Holt remained at Studio 1A, while
Amy Robach
Amy Joanne Robach (born February 6, 1973) is an American television reporter for ABC News. She is the co-anchor of ''20/20'' and the breaking news anchor/fill-in anchor for '' Good Morning America''. She was a national correspondent for NBC N ...
covered the wedding from Texas.
On June 14, 2008, a special edition of ''Saturday Today'', anchored by Matt Lauer and
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
, discussed the death of NBC News Washington bureau chief and ''
Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
'' moderator
Tim Russert
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Wa ...
.
Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C.
She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presid ...
,
David Gregory,
Pete Williams,
Lisa Myers
Lisa Myers (born Joplin, Missouri) is an American journalist. She was the senior investigative correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News''.
A 1973 graduate of the University of Missouri's Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri, she joi ...
, the moderators of ''Meet the Press''s competing
Sunday morning talk show
A Sunday morning talk show is a television program with a news/ talk/ public affairs–hybrid format that is broadcast on Sunday mornings. This type of program originated in the United States, and has since been used in other countries.
Overview
T ...
s,
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...
of ''
Face the Nation
''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Face the Nation'' is one of the longest-running news programs in the history o ...
'' and
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Robe ...
of ''
This Week'', and
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
, among others, appeared to share their memories of Russert. The Sunday edition on the following day (June 15), another special edition on the death of Russert was broadcast, hosted by Gregory and Mitchell.
On April 30, 2011,
Natalie Morales and
Al Roker
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...
anchored a special edition of ''Weekend Today'' from London to cover the wedding of
Prince William
William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Born in London, William was educat ...
and the former
Kate Middleton
Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...
.
As part of their coverage of
Super Bowl XLVI on February 4, 2012, a special Saturday edition was anchored by Lester Holt and Amy Robach from Studio 1A with
Jenna Wolfe anchoring from that year's Super Bowl location,
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. The following Sunday's edition was another special edition with Matt Lauer live from
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and
Ann Curry
Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist and photojournalist, who has been a reporter for more than 30 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, S ...
, Natalie Morales,
Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Clark Guthrie (born December 27, 1971) is an American broadcast journalist and attorney. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News, morning show ''Today'', a position she has held since July 2012.
Guthrie joined NBC News in September 2 ...
, and Al Roker live from Indianapolis.
As part of their coverage of
Terror in Boston, on Saturday, April 20, 2013, a Saturday edition was anchored by Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie from Studio 1A at Rockefeller Plaza and Lester Holt and Erica Hill from Watertown, Massachusetts.
As part of their coverage of The
2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, Morales and
Lester Holt
Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...
anchored a special edition of ''Weekend Today'' from
Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, with
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
reading news headlines and
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Marie Dreyer (born August 2, 1981) is an American television meteorologist working for NBC News. She is also an anchor on Today's 3rd Hour. Dreyer frequently appears on ''Today'' on weekdays as a weather correspondent and as a fill-in for ...
with weather in Studio 1A.
As part of their coverage of The
November 2015 Paris attacks
The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...
, a special Saturday edition was anchored by
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
and
Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Clark Guthrie (born December 27, 1971) is an American broadcast journalist and attorney. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News, morning show ''Today'', a position she has held since July 2012.
Guthrie joined NBC News in September 2 ...
, with
Sheinelle Jones
Sheinelle Marie Jones (born April 19, 1978) is an American journalist and a news anchor and correspondent for NBC News. She is one of the hosts of the third hour of ''Today'' on weekdays.
She is also the host of the educational nature program '' ...
reading news headlines and
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Marie Dreyer (born August 2, 1981) is an American television meteorologist working for NBC News. She is also an anchor on Today's 3rd Hour. Dreyer frequently appears on ''Today'' on weekdays as a weather correspondent and as a fill-in for ...
with weather in Studio 1A, and Al Roker live from
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The Sunday edition on the following, another special edition was broadcast with
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
live from
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Harry Smith as co-anchor, with
Sheinelle Jones
Sheinelle Marie Jones (born April 19, 1978) is an American journalist and a news anchor and correspondent for NBC News. She is one of the hosts of the third hour of ''Today'' on weekdays.
She is also the host of the educational nature program '' ...
reading news headlines and
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Marie Dreyer (born August 2, 1981) is an American television meteorologist working for NBC News. She is also an anchor on Today's 3rd Hour. Dreyer frequently appears on ''Today'' on weekdays as a weather correspondent and as a fill-in for ...
with weather in Studio 1A.
On May 19, 2018, a special Saturday edition was anchored by
Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Clark Guthrie (born December 27, 1971) is an American broadcast journalist and attorney. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News, morning show ''Today'', a position she has held since July 2012.
Guthrie joined NBC News in September 2 ...
and
Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb ( ; arz, هدى قطب, ''Hudā Quṭb''; ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show ''Today'' and co-host of its entertainment ...
with weather by
Al Roker
Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...
to cover the
Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom is a member of the British royal family; the bride is American and previously worked as an ...
was live at
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Viewership
The program has more viewers than
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Good Morning America Weekend Edition
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with ...
'' and
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
' ''CBS Saturday Morning'', but fewer than ''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
''.
[Nielsen ratings from November 2007 as released wit]
CBS press release
/ref> During the weekend of September 15, 2012, the weekend edition of ''Good Morning America'' topped ''Weekend Today'' in the ratings for the first time in that program's history.
International broadcasts
* In Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
''Weekend Today'' airs at 3:00 a.m. Mondays on the Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
, followed by ''Meet The Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...
''.
* In the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, the Saturday and Sunday editions air on 9TV
9TV (formerly branded as Solar News Channel) was a major commercial television network in the Philippines. It was owned by Nine Media Corporation, Nine Media had an airtime agreement as the main content provider of Radio Philippines Network. 9 ...
(formerly called as Talk TV and Solar News Channel
Solar News Channel (SNC) was a major commercial television network in the Philippines, owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation's arm television subsidiary of Solar Television Network lease with its owner by Radio Philippines Network. Its flags ...
) on Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. local time and Sundays at 10:30 p.m. local time.
References
External links
*
*
{{Commons category, Weekend Today
1987 American television series debuts
NBC original programming
1980s American television news shows
1990s American television news shows
2000s American television news shows
English-language television shows
Television series by Universal Television
Today (American TV program)