NBC’s attempt to push the "Today" show "back into first place ahead of ABC rival 'GMA' by hiring top ESPN programmer Jamie Horowitz has ended in turmoil after he was fired Monday night amid a climate of 'instability and insecurity,'" according to sources cited by Emily Smith of the N.Y. POST. Horowitz was hired in May following a negotiation with ABC to "allow him out of his ESPN contract early to take the reins" as Senior VP & GM of “Today.” Horowitz "was released from his job even before his official Dec. 1 start date when he was due to oversee all four hours of the show." Sources said that Horowitz’ "longtime friendship with Josh Elliott, who is now in a sports role at NBC and will appear on 'Today' regularly, was also seen as a problem." Smith notes it is "believed that NBC will have to pay Horowitz" around $3M for the remainder of his contract (N.Y. POST, 11/18). In N.Y., Bill Carter notes NBC News President Deborah Turness in a memo sent to staff last night "did not describe the decision as a termination, and referred to the move as something" she and Horowitz had "agreed upon together." But other NBC News staff members said that Turness and NBC Universal News Group Chair Patricia Fili-Krushel had determined that Horowitz "had to go." Some NBC sources suspected that Horowitz "was behind the accounts of conflict, especially because the stories included speculation that Mr. Horowitz was already in line to succeed Ms. Turness, routinely described as embattled, despite the fact that he had barely started at NBC and had no experience as a news journalist." Horowitz at ESPN was "in charge of developing new programs." He also "continued to oversee several he had already created," including "Olbermann" and "First Take" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/18). Also in N.Y., Don Kaplan cited a high-ranking NBC source as saying that Horowitz "created a caustic work atmosphere during his brief reign." A "Today" source said, "He would hold meetings and ask producers to give him the names of other producers who should be fired." Horowitz also allegedly "would talk about staffers -- including hosts -- behind their backs and then claim that they were talking about each other behind each other's backs" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/18).
