Report: NBC To Hire Kate Middleton's Sister, Pippa For 'The Today Show' (at 600k per year)

[big_dog]

NBC has reportedly poached Pippa Middleton, the sister of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, for a spot on "The Today Show," according to The Daily Beast.

Having already employed certain American "royalty" such as Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush, the company has brought on Middleton in a provisional, unspecified role, the Beast reported on Wednesday.

NBC paid Chelsea Clinton $600,000 a year. Middleton will receive a similar salary, according to the Beast.

Middleton is not the first high-profile Brit to join the "Today" team: NBC had previously employed Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who worked on the show.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pippa-middleton-nbc-today-show

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. It's time to stop pandering to these economic royalists.

[big_dog]

6. will it be naughty Pippa or nice for morning television

she could go head to head in drinking contests with Kathie Lee on the 4th hour of 'Today'

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. Or Pippa Longstocking

http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/15/pippi-longstocking-arrested-felony-hit-and-run-tami-erin/

[big_dog]

11. time for an old fashioned throwdown Hoda and Kathie Lee... Pippa parties for a LIVING!

[Dont call me Shirley]

13. ..

http://m.

[big_dog]

15. everyone has a story! and Hoda's story is boring....

SNL Spoof --Kristen Wiig's rendition of Everyone Has a Story

[Dont call me Shirley]

23. Hoda's boring life...

http://m.

[malaise]

2. Because you can sell any shit or any meme

with an English accent

[big_dog]

3. what is she going to do exactly?

besides ensure that the Today Show has a prime spot for royal weddings

[avaistheone1]

9. Show her butt.

[malaise]

22. Don't know

and don't care - won't be watching anyway.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. well, there we go, then. I need to go walk my dogs and escape the madness!

[Journeyman]

5. Unlike her sister, she doesn't have a future as a welfare mother, so she must work. . .

$600K for doing little to nothing. Nice work if you can get it.

[joeybee12]

8. The rear of the year...

According to Bubbles on AbFab

[Johonny]

10. Does NBC still exist

I didn't realize they still tried to be a network.

[Yavin4]

12. NBC News to all you journalism school grads with thousands of dollars in student loan debt

Go pound salt!

[gratuitous]

20. J-school suckers!

You shoulda gotten born to royalty, instead of wasting your time in school and learning stuff. Suckers! Oh, and NBC can't be paying any taxes, because they need every penny to pay top dollar for top talent. If you're thinking they could have gotten 10 decent reporters or researchers for what they're paying Pippa, you're clearly not executive material for 30 Rock.

[hifiguy]

14. That whirring sound you hear

is David Sarnoff, the founder of NBC, hitting 10K rpm in his grave.

[onenote]

17. I guess there wasn't whirring when the Today show featured J. Fred Muggs

because Sarnoff was (a) still alive and (b) apparently okay with it.

[hifiguy]

19. In those days "Today" didn't purport to be a real news show.

It was more light "newsy" entertainment even in the 1960s and 1970s. One did not see presidents and senators on "Today."

[onenote]

21. Its always been a combination of news and entertainment

The original Today show set featured an "actual newsroom" from which Dave Garroway gave reports. The ratings stunk for the Today show so J. Fred was added. The pursuit of ratings has always been a key element of the Today Show experience, whether it was J. Fred or Willard Scott. The replacement of Jane Pauley by Deborah Norville was all about ratings. So is the hiring of Pippa. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. 600k a year for one of the most ridiculed writers ever

It's official. Despite the £400,000 advance, a serialisation in the Mail on Sunday, a huge publicity campaign and the glossy photos of rustic picnics and aspirational living (53, apparently, of the author herself), Pippa Middleton's lifestyle book is a flop. Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends, Middleton's first outing as a writer, has sold under 2,000 copies in its first week and sits at 177 on the Amazon bestsellers list below, so the Telegraph reports, Peppa Pig's Christmas Wish.

The publishers may have been confident, exporting the lifestyle book all around the world, but critics were not impressed. It has been slated almost universally for its embarrassingly obvious lack of imagination. The Guardian referred to it as a "cut and paste" job, while others have made reference to some of the more banal pieces of advice the book offers. Turkeys, for example, are "perfect for feeding larger gatherings", while drawers should be "packed full of useful odds and ends".

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/12/pippa-middleton-party-planning-book

We're sure Pippa Middleton knew there would be a lot of scrutinizing eyes on her book Celebrate -- she is the sister of the future queen of England, after all. But we're not sure she was expecting how severely critics would pan her first foray into the writing world. Not only were her tips deemed obvious and simplistic, but the scathing reviews questioned her motives.

"What is the point of this thick, colourful book, except as a sort of cultural tea bag for the American market?" The Telegraph asked.

"It is clear that by writing the book Pippa set out to prove that there is far more to her than her pert bottom. But the fact is, there isn’t," The Irish Sun wrote. Ouch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/pippa-middleton-book-celebrate-interview-the-telegraph-review_n_2072286.html

[spanone]

18. morning 'news' shows are all about celebrity....not much else

yawn.....