Top of the Morning Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV

by Stelter, Brian

• ISBN13: 9781455545360
• ISBN10: 1455545368
• Edition: Large
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-05-07
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

As The Late Shiftdid for late night TV, TOP OF THE MORNING reveals the dish and dirt behind the polite smiles and perky demeanors of morning television. When America wakes up with personable and charming hosts like Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Robin Roberts, and George Stephanopoulos, it's hard to imagine them stealing each others' guests at the airport. But that is just part of the crazy reality New York Timesstaff writer Brian Stelter reveals in TOP OF THE MORNING-an examination of the most competitive time slot in television, complete with Machiavellian booking wars and manic behavior by the stars. Stelter is behind the scenes as Ann Curry replaces Vieira on the "Today" show, only to be fired a year later in a fiasco that made national headlines. He's backstage as "Good Morning America" beats "Today" for the first time in a generation. And he's there as Roberts is diagnosed with a crippling disease-on the very same day that her show is toasting its hard-earned victory. Readers will be fascinated by the never-before-told stories about past hosts (Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, Charlie Gibson) and by the present-day battle for first place before dawn, when every single viewer counts and where there are new competitors all the time (Stelter also rides along at CBS as Charlie Rose and Gayle King try to reinvent morning TV). The book is based on all new reporting at the highest levels as well as juicy, well-sourced gossip.

Author Biography

Brian Stelter is the senior media correspondent for CNN and host of the show Reliable Sources. He was previously a staff writer at the New York Times and was featured as a subject in the New York Times documentary Page One. Before joining the Times in 2007, he was the founder and editor of TVNewser, the pre-eminent blog about the television news industry, which was sold to MediaBistro in 2004.