• N.Y. Times, Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:31 AM

With Katie Couric leaving and its crosstown morning competitors preparing to take advantage of a rare opportunity to pick up market share, NBC moved  swiftly to extend the contract of Matt Lauer, the show's popular co-host.  He's now signed on until 2011, which represents a three-year extension on his current deal. Says The New York Times: "He will be paid more than $13 million a year, according to a person who was officially briefed on the deal but not authorized to disclose it--at least a million dollars a year more than [Meredith] Vieira and in the range of what Ms. Couric has made at NBC."  Lauer must now demonstrate to morning-TV audiences that he and Meredith Vieira, who will be his new co-host beginning later this year, are well suited to one another.  "'I am loath to predict chemistry and tell you how it's going to go,' said Mr. Lauer, who, in the equivalent of a first date, welcomed Ms. Vieira and her husband to his home on Friday night for dinner. 'What we need to do is do some shows together. I hope people don't expect we'll come out of the box in the same place Katie and I are today, after 10 years of working together.'"

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