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

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on weekday mornings. The program is hosted by

Frances Rivera Frances Rivera (born 1970) is a Filipino-American journalist and television News presenter, news anchor appearing on the overnight news program, ''Early Today'' on NBC. For ten years, until August 2011, she was a television reporter and anchor for ...

, and features general national and international news stories, financial and entertainment news, off-beat stories, national weather forecasts, and sports highlights.

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 ''NBC Nightside'' (also known as ''NBC News Nightside'') is an American graveyard slot, overnight 24-hour news cycle, rolling newscast that aired on NBC from 1991 to 1998. The program was produced in three half-hour segments. It usually aired li ...

'', 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 a.m., 3:30 a.m., and 4:00 a.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

) 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 di ...

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 and ABC News Live. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with ...

'' and the '' CBS News Roundup'', effectively resulting in ''Early Today'' acting as NBC's '' de facto'' 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It ...

. The program 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'', which is how it airs on the NBC News Now streaming service before leading into that service's morning newscast, ''Morning News Now''. The show may be updated for any breaking news occurring before 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, after which time any live

breaking news Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

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 or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held in ...

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 (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' 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 Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

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, Bryant Gumbel 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 U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

facilities of NBC's sister financial news cable network,

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

, and focusing on business and financial news (including a modified version of the CNBC Ticker 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, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 census count of 16,264, which in turn reflected an in ...

headquarters of

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

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

Post CNBC era

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 network af ...

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network ...

, 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 (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

acquired part-ownership of

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

in 2008, weather forecasts used on the program incorporate the channel's branding and forecasts, although ''Early Today'' used 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, New York. Completed in 1933 ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, with MSNBC, in October 2007. MSNBC's master control facilities were relocated to the CNBC Headquarters at the NBC Universal Network Organization Center in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Until a revamp of the set used for both programs in 2011, the anchor background on ''Early Today'' was a video screen of a sunrise scene; a 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 television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'' 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) * Michelle Grossman – meteorologist (2022–present)

Former on-air staff

;Anchors * Nanette Hansen (1999–2004; now working for Sotherby's International Realty in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 United ...

) * Natalie Morales (2004; now with

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

) * Amy Robach (2004; now with

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

) * Contessa Brewer (2004–2005; now with

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

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, 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–lic ...

in New York City) * Bill Fitzgerald (2006–2007) * Milissa Rehberger (various quarters) * Dan Kloeffler (2007–2009, now with

) * Christina Brown (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, currently WFOR-TV, CBS Miami morning news co-anchor. Nguyen has previously worked for NBC News, MSNBC, CBS News, CNN, and WPIX. Career Nguyen began her career as a morning anchor ...

(2012–2016; now with

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...

) * Richard Lui –

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

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 t ...

Time anchor (2013–2016) * Ayman Mohyeldin – Central and Eastern Time co-anchor (2016; now an anchor on MSNBC) * Phillip Mena (2014–2015, 2016–2023) ;Meteorologists * Joe Witte (1999–2003; was at NewsChannel 8 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 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 ...

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

) * 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 Media alongside independent stations KTVK (channel 3) and KPHE-LD (channel 44), a group known together as "Arizona's Family ...

in Phoenix) * Rosey Edeh (2004–2005; now at

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

/ CIII-DT in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

as co-host of '' The Morning Show'') * Byron Miranda (2007; now at

in New York City) * Bill Karins (2007-2022); still an NBC News meteorologist 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 Consumer News and Business Channel Europe (referred to on air simply as CNBC) is a business and financial news television channel which airs across Europe. The station is based in London, where it shares the Adrian Smith (architect), Adrian S ...

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, and where available, streaming through NBC News Now, which was formerly available on

Sky UK Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...

as a channel in its own right before its discontinuation in December 2023.

References

External links

Official website
* {{NBCNetwork Shows (current and upcoming) 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 American English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television Today (American TV program) NBC News Television shows filmed in New York City