Weekend Today Information

Weekend Today is the unofficial title of the Saturday and Sunday editions of Today, an American morning news and talk show which airs daily on NBC.

History

The Sunday edition of Today (titled Sunday Today) premiered on September 20, 1987, hosted by Maria Shriver and Boyd Matson, with Garrick Utley as news anchor. The program was broadcast from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., followed by Meet the Press.

Garrick Utley replaced Boyd Matson as co-anchor on March 20, 1988. Shriver, Roker and sports anchor Bill Macatee continued with the program. In 1989, Sunday Today moved to Washington so that Utley could also serve as anchor of Meet the Press.

On November 12, 1989, a special edition of Sunday Today aired, with Utley in Berlin covering the fall of the Berlin Wall earlier that week, Shriver in Burbank and Roker in New York. At the end of the broadcast, Utley mentioned that Shriver was leaving the show for maternity leave. NBC News national correspondent Katie Couric became substitute anchor during Shriver's leave.

Maria Shriver returned from maternity leave on January 28, 1990, but did not return to Sunday Today. Couric co-anchored until Mary Alice Williams became the new co-anchor on February 11, 1990. Production of the Sunday program returned to New York when Utley left Meet the Press in 1991.

On August 1, 1992, the Saturday edition made its debut, expanding the broadcast schedule of the Today franchise to seven days a week. The weekend editions were initially titled Saturday Today or Sunday Today, as applicable, in order to distinguish them from the weekday program. Since the late 1990s, all editions of the program have officially been titled Today, although Weekend Today is still sometimes used for promotional purposes.

Format

The weekend broadcasts continue the Today tradition of covering breaking news, interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular-culture and human-interest stories, covering health and finance issues and presenting the latest weather reports. Just like the Weekday edition, the show offers visitors to New York City a chance to observe firsthand the workings of a live television broadcast with its windowed studio on Rockefeller Plaza. 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 the biggest names in music and Broadway outside the studio throughout the summer.

Dee Dee Thomas is the Executive Producer of Weekend Today, while Don Nash is Executive Producer of all 'Today' broadcasts.

On-air staff

Weekend editions are anchored by Lester Holt and Erica Hill. Jenna Wolfe is news anchor, and Dylan Dreyer is meteorologist.

Former anchors

Sunday Today:

• Boyd Matson " (1987–1988)
• Maria Shriver " (1987–1990)
• Garrick Utley " News anchor (1987–1988), co-anchor (1988–1992)
• Katie Couric " (1990)
• Mary Alice Williams " (1990–1992)
• Al Roker " Weather anchor (1987–1992)
• Bill Macatee " Sports anchor (1987–1992)

Weekend Today:

• Scott Simon " (1992–1993)
• Jackie Nespral " (1992–1995)
• Mike Schneider " (1993–1995)
• Giselle Fernández " (1995–1996)
• Jack Ford " (1995–1999)
• Carol Martin " (1996)
• Jodi Applegate " (1996–1999)
• Soledad O'Brien " (1999–2003)
• David Bloom " (1999–2003)
• Campbell Brown " (2003–2007)
• Amy Robach " Saturday co-anchor (2007–2012)
• Jenna Wolfe " Sunday co-anchor (2007–2012); news anchor (2012"present)

Weather Anchors

• Joe Witte " Saturday (1992"1999)
• Al Roker " Sunday (1992"1995)
• Janice Huff " Sunday (1995"2012)
• Bill Karins " Saturday (2009"2012)

Theme music

Scherzo for Today was used as the program's closing theme until 1990, 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 until 2004.) The Today Show opening fanfare has opened the program ever since, with two exceptions. In the summer of 1994, to mark the debut of Studio 1A, the Williams-penned 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 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 now been in use for over two decades.

The Scherzo for Today was iconically accompanied by Fred Facey announcing "From NBC News, this is Today..." until his death in April 2003, except for special editions requiring special introductions. Facey's work is now only heard on the MSNBC program Headliners and Legends.

Currently, a lighter theme employing the NBC chimes is used to open the show's 7:30 and 8:30 half-hour segments, and also used as a closing theme.

Show times

On Saturday, the show is live from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET although some affiliates chose to tape-delay the program. Some stations in the western half of the country choose to air it at 5:00 local time.

On Sunday, the show is aired live from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET. Most NBC affiliates choose to air two editions of their local morning newscast around the Saturday edition of Weekend Today, with the first hour of the local newscast airing before and the second hour airing after the program.

Some affiliates choose not to air part or the entire show at all.

Special editions

Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, Weekend Today aired a special edition on Sunday, February 2, with the expanded introduction

The next day was also a special edition with Matt Lauer at Studio 1A in New York and Katie Couric at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

On April 6, 2003, the death of Bloom in Iraq dominated that day's edition. Soledad O'Brien, Matt Lauer, and Katie Couric hosted a special edition of Today to remember Bloom.

When Pope John Paul II died on Saturday, April 2, 2005, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer anchored the weekend editions of The Today Show. Lauer anchored from the Vatican 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 when the Pope was officially dead. He returned to New York as Couric traveled to Vatican City to co-anchor coverage of the Pope's funeral with Williams.

On April 19, 2008, special edition of Weekend Today featured Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, billed as "The Pope Visits the USA." Lester Holt and Jenna Wolfe moved outside to Rockefeller Center 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 half hour.

On May 10, 2008, Weekend Today featured a special split edition coveing the wedding of Jenna Bush at the President's ranch outside Crawford, Texas. Co-anchor Lester Holt remained at Studio 1A, while Amy Robach covered the wedding from Texas.

On June 14, 2008, a special edition occurred because of the death of Tim Russert, NBC's Washington Bureau Chief and Moderator of Meet the Press. Matt Lauer and Tom Brokaw anchored this edition of Today. Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Pete Williams, Lisa Myers, Bob Schieffer, host of Face the Nation, George Stephanopoulos, host of This Week, and Vice President Dick Cheney, among others, appeared on Today. The next day, there was another special edition, hosted by Gregory and Mitchell on the death of Russert.

On April 30, 2011, Natalie Morales and Al Roker anchored a special edition of "Weekend Today" from London during the wedding of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton.

As part of their coverage of Super Bowl XLVI on February 4, 2012 there was a special edition with Lester Holt and Amy Robach live from Studio 1 A and Jenna Wolfe live from Indianapolis, Indiana. The following day was another special edition with Matt Lauer live from Washington D.C., and Ann Curry, Natalie Morales, Savannah Guthrie, and Al Roker live from Indianapolis.

Viewership

The program has more viewers than ABC's Good Morning America Weekend Edition and CBS' CBS This Morning Saturday, but fewer than CBS News Sunday Morning.

International broadcasts

• Australia: Weekend Today airs at 3:00AM Mondays on the Seven Network, followed by Meet The Press
• Philippines: the Saturday and Sunday editions air on Talk TV on Saturdays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 8:00 pm local time