''Early Today'' is an American early morning television news program that is broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on weekday mornings. The program features general national and international news stories, financial and entertainment news, off-beat stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlights. , it is anchored by

Frances Rivera Frances Rivera (born 1970) is a Filipino-American journalist and television news anchor. For ten years, until August 2011, she was a television reporter and anchor for Boston's NBC affiliate, WHDH. From 2011-2013, she was a morning news anchor fo ...

and Phillip Mena.

Overview

''Early Today'' is the only early morning network newscast on any of the three largest U.S. television networks (NBC, ABC or CBS) that is not produced jointly with an overnight news program (NBC has not aired an overnight newscast since the 1998 cancellation of '' NBC Nightside,'' which aired alongside ''Early Today'' during the latter program's first few months). As of 2019, the program broadcasts three unique half hour shows at 3:00, 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is then tape delayed in a continuous half-hour loop until 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (the show produces an additional half hour live at 6:30 a.m). On September 11, 2017, NBC discontinued same-date reruns of CNBC's '' Mad Money'' from its late night schedule in order to accommodate the earlier live broadcast (before that date, ''Early Today'' was first broadcast live at 4:00 a.m. ET). As a result, some NBC affiliates that did not choose to fill the time period formerly occupied by the ''Mad Money'' replays with syndicated programs or

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

s following the change now air ''Early Today'' in the form of two separate editions or as a 90-minute to 2½-hour loop – in which case, the program competes against ABC's ''

World News Now ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with weather forecasts, sp ...

'' and the '' CBS Overnight News'', effectively resulting in ''Early Today'' acting as NBC's ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' overnight network newscast, especially west of the boundary of the

Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordin ...

. It usually airs as a lead-in to local morning newscasts on most NBC stations, although in the few markets where a morning newscast is not produced by the station, it may air in a two- to three-hour loop immediately before the start of ''Today''. The show may updated for any breaking news occurring before 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, after which time any live

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

requiring network-level coverage, at the station's local discretion in each time zone or network orders for live coverage, is under full oversight of ''Today'' and their staffers. ''Early Today'' and ''First Look'' are traditionally pre-empted during the

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

to allow the airing of overnight replays of NBC's primetime Olympic event coverage and live coverage on the NBC broadcast network and MSNBC, along with allowing stations to fulfill syndicated programming requirements where a distributor requires their programs to still air in some form with the open slot, albeit during the overnights.

History

Origins

''Early Today'' premiered on September 9, 1999 as a replacement for '' NBC News at Sunrise'', which NBC decided to cancel in April 1999 as part of a major shakeup of the network's daytime and early morning schedules (these changes included the launch of another ''Today''-branded program, the short-lived talk show ''Later Today'', as well as the cancellation of the long-running

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

'' Another World''). The ''Early Today'' title had previously been used for another early morning news program produced by

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 v ...

from 1982 to 1983 (and was replaced by ''NBC News at Sunrise'' following its cancellation), which featured the hosts of NBC's ''Today'' at the time –

Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the ag ...

Bryant Gumbel Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's '' Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted ...

and

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...

. Originally produced from the former Fort Lee,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

facilities of NBC's sister financial news cable network,

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 s ...

, and focusing on business and financial news (including a modified version of the

CNBC Ticker 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 ...

that showed stock prices and weather forecasts for select U.S. cities), the program switched to a general news format in 2004. As part of this reformatting, production of the program was relocated to the

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,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 ...

. Concurrently, former '' Saturday Today'' anchor Amy Robach replaced the program's original anchor

Nanette Hansen Nanette Hansen was a journalist with CBS, NBC, and CNBC. She co-hosted NBC's ''Early Today'' program from 1999 to 2004 with meteorologist Joe Witte. After leaving NBC, Hanson shifted careers to real estate, first with Corcoran Group Real Estate and ...

Present

MSNBC's '' Morning Joe First Look'', which airs at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time, is a repurposed version of the network newscast using the weathercasters and segments. Until 2013, the sports segment was produced from the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

studios of NBC

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona- ...

, using either Fred Roggin or Mario Solis as anchors; the segment was recorded after that station's 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time newscast for later airing and to account for most West Coast sports results, but was aired without any differences on both ''First Look'' and ''Early Today'' (the segment is now conducted live-to-tape during both programs from the newsroom at NBC Studios). Some segments seen on ''Early Today'' are excluded from ''First Look'', mainly the local weather cut-in (which does not appear at all on many NBC stations that broadcast ''Early Today'', showing only a list of forecasts for seven randomly selected U.S. cities) and a local event barker featuring a promotion for an NBC affiliate serving the city where the event is being held (which was dropped from the NBC program in 2013), while a small number of stories seen on ''Early Today'' may not be seen on ''First Look''. Some NBC affiliates do not air the entire program, and a purposeful sign-off is made by the show's anchor at the 24-minute mark in order to allow stations to air an early weather segment or start their morning newscast early, while NBC carries a non-essential human interest or light news story to end the telecast for stations that carry the entire program. Since NBC's corporate parent

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...

acquired part-ownership of

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

in 2008, weather forecasts used on the program incorporate the channel's branding and forecasts, although ''Early Today'' uses repurposed graphics systems from the defunct digital multicast weather network NBC Weather Plus, which provided forecasts for the program until it shut down in 2008. In September 2007, the program, as with the rest of MSNBC's operations, moved from the previous Secaucus, New Jersey headquarters to the network's combined news headquarters at

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, with MSNBC, in October 2007. MSNBC's

master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swi ...

facilities were relocated to the CNBC Headquarters at the NBC Universal Network Organization Center in

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.skycam shot of

was used for ''First Look''. On June 29, 2009, concurrent with the launch of MSNBC's high definition simulcast feed, ''Early Today'' became the first early morning network newscast to begin broadcasting in high definition. The program had aired live at 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time until March 1, 2010, when the initial broadcast of the show was moved to 4:00 a.m. Eastern to allow stations in the Eastern Time Zone to begin their morning newscasts at 4:30 a.m. with an ''Early Today'' lead-out; previously without the new schedule in some cases, the ''NBC All Night'' repeat of ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'' would inexplicably lead into local news with five minutes cut off the former program if the default NBC schedule, in addition to one local half-hour program, was followed by an affiliate in the overnight hours. As of 2019, the show is now offered live as early as 3:00 a.m. Eastern. Further brand integration with ''Today'' came in December 2013, when ''Early Today'' introduced a new graphics package based on that used by the network's flagship morning show since August of that year, as well as a modified version of that program's "orange sunrise" logo.

Notable on-air staff

Current on-air staff

– anchor (2014–2015, 2016–present) *

Phillip Mena Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

– anchor (2014–2015, 2016–present) * Michelle Grossman – meteorologist (2022)

Former on-air staff

;Anchors *

(1999–2004; now working for Sotherby's International Realty in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a town in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 Census. The census-designated place (CDP) of Smithtown lies within the town ...

) * Natalie Morales (2004; now with

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

) * Amy Robach (2004; now with

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

) * Contessa Brewer (2004–2005; now with

) * Kristine Johnson (2005–2006; currently main anchor at

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...

in New York City) * Bill Fitzgerald (2006–2007) *

Milissa Rehberger Milissa Rehberger is an American television journalist. She joined the 24-hour cable news television channel MSNBC in December 2003 as a freelance anchor and reporter. In July 2004 she was named anchor of its primetime news updates. Most rece ...

(various quarters) *

Dan Kloeffler Daniel L. Kloeffler (born January 1, 1976) is an American television journalist. Since 2010, he has been an anchor of ABC News Now, a cable-news channel of the ABC broadcasting network. Early life Kloeffler graduated from Algonac High School ...

(2007–2009, now with

) *

Christina Brown Christina Brown is a journalist, formerly an anchor and correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News. She began working for MSNBC in June 2007 as anchor of overnight newsbreaks and the early morning programs Early Today and First Look, after five ...

(2007–2010) * Lynn Smith (2010–2012; later with HLN) * Mara Schiavocampo (2012–2013, now with ABC News) * Veronica de la Cruz (2011–2014, now with KPIX in San Francisco) *

Betty Nguyen Betty Nguyen (born September 1, 1974) is an American news anchor, who is currently at WPIX in New York City. Nguyen has previously worked for NBC News, MSNBC, CBS News, and CNN. Career Nguyen began her career as a morning anchor and reporte ...

(2012–2016; now with

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of ...

) *

Richard Lui Richard Lui is an American journalist and news anchor for MSNBC and NBC News. Lui is currently a breaking news anchor for NBC and MSNBC, broadcasting from 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. prior to that role he was a ...

–

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

Time anchor (2013–2016) *

Ayman Mohyeldin Ayman ( ar, أيمن, also spelled as Aiman, Aimen, Aymen, or Eymen in the Latin alphabet) is an Arabic masculine given name. It is derived from the Arabic Semitic root () for ''right'', and literally means ''righteous'', ''he who is on the right'' ...

–

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and Eastern Time co-anchor (2016; now an anchor on MSNBC) ;Meteorologists * Joe Witte (1999–2003; was at NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C., now at

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New Dea ...

) * Sean McLaughlin (2004–2005; now at

KPHO-TV KPHO-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside independent station KTVK (channel 3) and low-power LATV affiliate KPHE-LD (channel 44). KPHO-TV ...

in Phoenix) *

Rosey Edeh Rosey Edeh (born August 16, 1966) is a Canadian television personality, who was a news anchor for ''Global News at Noon'' on Global Toronto and senior reporter for ''ET Canada''. She is currently C.E.O. of Micha Muse Media and has directed her de ...

(2004–2005; now at

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after C ...

CIII-DT CIII-DT (channel 41) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, CIII-DT maintains studios at 81 Barber Gree ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

as co-host of '' The Morning Show'') *

Byron Miranda Byron Miranda is an American television journalist. The five-time Regional Emmy Award-winner, currently morning meteorologist on WPIX in New York City. Personal background A California native, Miranda served in the United States Air Force and ...

(2007; now at

in New York City) *

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 ...

(2007-2022); still an NBC News Metorlogist working daytime/afternoon shifts on MSNBC & NBC NEWS NOW. * Janessa Webb (2018-2022; now at WDCW in Washington, DC) ;Business anchor * Louisa Bojesen (1999–2008, was most recently at CNBC Europe until her departure on April 28, 2017)

International broadcasts

MSNBC and NBC News programming, including ''Early Today'' and several other shows, is shown for several hours a day on the 24-hour news channel OSN News in the Middle East & Northern Africa region.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Commons category, Early Today NBC original programming 1999 American television series debuts 1990s American television news shows 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television Today (American TV program) NBC News Television shows filmed in New York City