Matt Lauer is one of the most recognized names in the broadcasting business. He started his TV career as a producer of the noon newscast for WOWK-TV in West Virginia and later, as an on-air reporter for the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts. He then hosted several weekly information and talk programs around the country. In the course of time, Lauer’s hosting experiences and on-camera presence took him to NBC’s national news organization while still working for WNBC. He filled in on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed, which gave him the opportunity to join The Today Show in 1994 as its news anchor and eventually as a co-host from 1997 to 2017.
Lauer was also a contributor for Dateline NBC and was a host for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of many Olympic Games. Lauer has interviewed several big names in entertainment, politics, and sports. He was well-liked by viewers; however, in 2017, his contract was terminated by NBC due to sexual misconduct allegations.
Meredith Vieira – $11m
Meredith Louise Vieira’s journalistic career began all the way back to 1975 when she was a news announcer for a radio station in Massachusetts. She then worked as a local reporter and anchor at WJAR-TV in Providence, which paved the way for her to become an investigative reporter until 1982. But she became a household name when she worked as a correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS. She was also a co-anchor on the CBS Morning News.
Vieira moved to ABC, and in 1997, she served as a moderator and co-host of the daytime talk show The View until 2006. She was also the first host of the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? In which she won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host. Today, she is a special correspondent for NBC News and a contributor to the NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, and Today.
Kathie Lee Gifford – $2m
Kathie Lee Gifford first gained a name as a singer on the 1970s game show Name That Tune with Tom Kennedy. She later became a correspondent for Good Morning America and a spokesperson for Carnival cruises. In 1985, she co-hosted The Morning Show on WABC-TV with Regis Philbin. It went national in 1988 and was then known as Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee. The 15-year run of the show took her fame to another level. Both Philbin and Gifford have been nominated for Outstanding Talk Show Host during the Daytime Emmy Awards for eight consecutive years in a row.
In July 2000, Gifford left the show, and in 2008, she joined NBC’s morning show, Today, as a co-host of the fourth hour. After having 11 Daytime Emmy nominations, she finally won her first Daytime Emmy as part of the Today team in 2010.
Don Lemon – $125k
Don Lemon is an American television journalist most commonly known for being a news anchor for CNN. On this channel, he hosts the program called “CNN Tonight.” During his early days of news anchoring, he had positions anchoring for small local stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania. Other gigs that led to his position at CNN included being a correspondent for “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.” Lemon has been awarded 3 regional Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award.
Besides broadcasting, Don Lemon wrote a memoir in 2011 called “Transparent.” In the memoir, he openly came out as gay, making him one of the few gay black men in the television reporting industry.
Ricki Lake – $2.6M
Ricki Lake started out her career in acting, when she landed the role of Tracy Turnblad in the movie 'Hairspray'. She had many other acting positions when she was younger, but she became a talk show host in the early 90s.
'The Ricki Lake Show' debuted in 1993, and she was introduced as the youngest talk show host on television, with her only being 24 years old at the time. She has received an Emmy for being an outstanding talk show host. She ended her contract with the show in 2004 in order to spend more time with her family. After her show, she did smaller projects, like being a game show host for CBS’s 'Gameshow Marathon', which was unfortunately short-lived.