Carey's 'Early' exit
'Today' grabs songbird's gig from CBS
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Carey was scheduled to perform across from CBS Studio 58, the new street-level venue where Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson will host the show weekdays from 7-9 a.m.
But, when CBS had difficulty securing the proper city permits to stage the outside concert, PMK, which represents Carey, approached NBC News about having her appear on "Today." Carey, who has not performed live on television for over a year, has a new album set for release Tuesday.
"For two months, we've been waiting for the permit. Without the permit, we couldn't promote it. We started to get very nervous. I had to go somewhere where I knew it would unequivocally happen," said PMK's Jennifer Glaisek, who, along with Leslee Dart, represents Carey.
"Today" jumped at the chance to steal Carey away from the competition. "Concerts have always been a highlight of the show," said NBC News spokeswoman Allison Gollust.
Unlike the CBS show, the "Today" show will have no trouble getting a city permit for the concert since it is staged in a blocked-off plaza at Rockefeller Center. The CBS show would have required the closing of a small street in Central Park, and would have called for extensive security. Initially, CBS had hoped to close part of Fifth Avenue for the concert, but the city ruled that out early on.
The "Early Show" is not fazed by the last-minute change. "Life goes on," said "Early Show" senior executive producer Steve Friedman. "This happens all the time. People fall in and out of the schedule. We're not going to air color bars on Monday." Friedman declined to reveal his alternative plans for the program, saying viewers would have to "tune in to CBS Monday morning" to find out.
"Today," which has dominated the ratings for five straight years, has traditionally had the advantage in booking guests. But it too has had its troubles with PMK. Since a well-publicized dispute between "Today" and PMK last spring, the relationship between the two entities has not been so cordial. PMK pulled client Calista Flockhart from a scheduled appearance on "Today" after the show refused to guarantee it wouldn't inquire about Flockhart's weight. As a result, "Today's" executive producer Jeff Zucker vowed not to book any of PMK partner Pat Kingsley's clients.
The ongoing conflict apparently did not have any impact on PMK's decision to go to "Today" with Carey. "I have a great relationship with 'Today.' I book clients on 'Today' all the time," said the agency's Glaisek.
