Joanne LaMarca Mathisen, the spirited executive producer behind the fourth hour of NBC’s Today morning franchise, plans to step down from the role later in August. In a memo issued to staffers on Thursday, Libby Leist, an SVP at NBC News who oversees Today, said LaMarca was eager to spend more time with family, and had initially taken the job in 2019 with the intention to stay for a year.
LaMarca, a longtime Today staffer who left NBC News in 2017 after a long run, will return as the new head of the 10 a.m. hour that is now led by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. The hour is in the midst of a transition: Kotb’s long-time co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, recently stepped down, succeeded by Hager. And on Monday, NBCUniversal announced that Tammy Filler, the fourth hour’s longtime chief, would move over to E! to help run an expanded news operation.
