Jenna Wolfe, NBC Weekend Today: Is She….

It was last Thanksgiving that I first blogged about Jenna Wolfe on NBC’s weekend edition of “Today.” That review wasn’t all that flattering. Here’s part of it:
First, Jenna Wolfe (who’s name is now tracked on the show open) screams at the camera (and me as a viewer). In an interview this morning, she was more distracted by a beeping clothes dryer than passing along information from a potentially good consumer segment. In segment after segment, her tone attitude and comments are just inappropriate and quite annoying. READ THE COMPLETE POST

I blogged many times since about the Saturday-Sunday volley between Amy Robach and Wolfe. Robach seemed polished on the surface. Wolfe was less so, bringing a completely different personality to the show on Sunday AM. Poor Lester, I wrote. To be fair, I blogged numerous times that Wolfe just needed time to grow in the role. Drop any of us into a great job like “Today” and we would need that time. So, to be fair in reassessing my criticism of her, I wanted to come back to the show this weekend… one year after that first blog. I wondered… what has changed? Has she improved? Is Jenna Wolfe better on this show now than a year ago?

The simple answer: YES. This morning’s hour was tremendously more watchable than many of the weekend shows I watched 10-11-12 months ago. True to the plea… she needed time to grow. Wolfe still brings a bit of edgy personality to the show. One of my early complaints about her anchoring was that she made the show about her… not the content. That happens many times when local or networks anchors believe the show is about them. It really is about the content. Personality and style are great appeals… but neither is a replacement for quality of content presented to the user. Today, Wolfe managed to work in her personality while still focusing on the content. A minor example happened in a “green” segment when Wolfe made some quick comment to the interviewee about herself… but then quickly said “let’s move on”… not letting those personal moments about linger. That’s a great balance. Let us see the unique, sometimes quirky, style you bring… but always stay focused on the content of the show. Not that my little blog or my little opinion matters to Wolfe or anyone else for that matter… but I would congratulate Wolfe. She has come a long way in this role in a year.

As a side now, I have blogged often about NBC News and “Today”. I am perhaps a rare breed of viewer these days. I grew up watching NBC and “Today”. I often drift and sample other products. The final year of “Good Morning America” with Charlie Gibson and Diana Sawyer was among their best. Great writing and great content made the duo very appealing. But… I always come back to home – NBC, “NBC Nightly News” and “Today”. (A big note: notice that I did not say MSNBC. I don’t like partisan, opinion-focused news content that much of cable news has become. Just give me the news, dammitt LOL) Now... it’s an ongoing challenge to keep us loyal viewers in place.

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