ANN CURRY'S days as MATT LAUER'S "Today" show co-host are numbered . . . according to basically everyone on the Internet.
--Supposedly, NBC is making a move because the show has been declining in the ratings. And it's going to cost them. Word has it Ann signed a three-year deal last summer that was worth a GUARANTEED $30 MILLION.
(--For the non-math majors, that's $10 million a year . . . meaning that they're going to have to pay her $20 million to NOT co-host the "Today" show over the next two years. It's a good gig if you can get it.)
--Ann would stay at the network to be a foreign correspondent for NBC News. (--A VERY EXPENSIVE foreign correspondent for NBC News.)
--Nothing is official yet . . . but the latest speculation is that HODA KOTB is the frontrunner to replace Ann. Of course, Hoda currently drinks her way through the fourth hour of the "Today" show with KATHIE LEE GIFFORD.
--We've also heard that SAVANNAH GUTHRIE is in the running. Despite all the rumors, there's no official comment from anyone worth mentioning.
(--On the pro-Ann front, there's a petition on Change.org asking that Ann REMAIN on the "Today" show. As of last night, it had over 17,000 signatures.)
--By the way, Ann discussed the "Today" show's sub-par ratings in a recent interview with "Ladies Home Journal". She said, quote, "It's hard not to take it personally.
--"You worry, Am I not good enough? Am I not what people need? Am I asking the right questions? When people say negative things or speculate, you can't help but feel hurt." (--But then she remembers she has another $20 million coming her way . . .)