First published 2013
Brian Stelter takes readers inside the brutal competition that drives morning television. The CNN correspondent documents how show bookers guard hotel rooms overnight to prevent rivals from stealing guests. He reveals the corporate warfare behind America's most competitive time slot, where hundreds of millions of dollars hang in the balance. Stelter chronicles Ann Curry's replacement of Meredith Vieira on Today, followed by her firing just one year later in a scandal that dominated headlines. He captures Good Morning America's calculated assault on Today's record winning streak. The book exposes the savage reality behind the cheerful facades of hosts like Robin Roberts, Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and George Stephanopoulos. Stelter shows how every viewer matters when careers and fortunes depend on morning ratings. He documents Roberts receiving a devastating medical diagnosis on what should have been her career's peak moment. The result reveals an industry as vicious as any corporate drama.
Genres: business, american, non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism
Vibes: fast-paced, thought-provoking, vicious
Tropes: corporate-drama, enemies-to-lovers
320 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing