Top of the Morning

Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV

By: Brian Stelter

Narrated by: Brian Stelter

CNN correspondent Brian Stelter reveals the dark side of morning television with exclusive material about current and past morning stars, from Matt Lauer to Katie Couric.

When America wakes up with personable and charming hosts like Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, it's hard to imagine their show bookers having to guard a guest's hotel room all night to prevent rival shows from poaching. But that is just a glimpse of the intense reality revealed in this gripping look into the most competitive time slot in television.

Featuring exclusive content about all the major players of the 2000s, Top of the Morning illuminates what it takes to win the AM -- when every single viewer counts, tons of jobs are on the line, and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Stelter is behind the scenes as Ann Curry replaces Meredith Vieira on the Today show, only to be fired a year later in a fiasco that made national headlines. He's backstage as Good Morning America launches an attack to dethrone Today and end the longest consecutive winning streak in morning television history. And he's there as Roberts is diagnosed with a crippling disease -- on what should be the happiest day of her career.

So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and discover the dark side of the sun.

Praise for Top of the Morning
"Mr. Stelter pulls back the curtains and exposes a savage corporate world that might have been inhabited by the Sopranos." -- Washington Times

"A troubling look inside an enterprise as vicious and internecine as a soap opera." -- Kirkus Reviews

Easy read/easy listening

Fun, informative book of all
That goes on in the morning shows. Fun to hear the inside scoop. Documents a lot of what you’ve heard through gossip sites. But also gives you the inside stories and the truth of what really happens.

Interesting ping pong competition between networks

I got this book after watching “The Morning Show” on Apple TV. I guess the author wrote it prior to the explosive Matt Lauer story. I kept waiting for it. Honestly, it painted an extremely unattractive picture of NBC while demonstrating how ABC succeeded with that evil process displayed by NBC. Sad, really. I knew I always loved Good Morning
America!!!

Morning Show Fan Must Read

Definitely written for a targeted audience but if you are a morning show news watcher you will enjoy this. I liked how the author who is also the narrator described all morning shows and his transitions into each news program and person was easy and enjoyable to keep up with. Hope he does a sequel about how the me too movement has brought to light the sexual harassment and sexual assaults done by some of the news anchors a few who in this story about rating wars.

You ignored the obvious white male privilege in Morning TV?

The writer acknowledged the sexism in morning TV but either refused to recognize, accept or just too privileged to see the white male privilege Matt received & that yes, he WAS in part responsible for Curry’s early departure. His privilege along w/the passive aggressive behavior toward her caused the execs to scramble for her replacement in ways that have not happened for women and/or male hosts of color. And why didn’t you delve into why Morales was skipped over? I’m so glad the TV Series comes out after ME TOO bc they didn’t shy away from the white male privilege that gets a producer dismissed bc the Laueresque host wants her gone. choosing to ignore the racism behind how the network handled Matt was a missed opportunity. Also, I cringed when he had to mention Robin’s athletic build. Look up why you should avoid that in future. Clearly well researched & enlightening but ignoring or not recognizing the white privilege caused the detail behind operation Bambi to still be woefully incomplete.

Inside look at morning TV ..

Brian takes us into the hush hush meetings of network execs responsible for the major network morning shows. Specifically, we hear the backstory of how, and why, NBC gave Ann Curry the ax. Interesting stuff and a fun read for TV morning show fans.