Matt Lauer The Today Show

Its no secret that Matt Lauer and Ann Curry did not get along well during the latter's tenure as co-host of Today.

But a new report suggests Curry has plenty of company in that regard, as an insider tells Radar Online:

“The way Matt treats staffers at work is so derogatory and dismissive... He is so demeaning to many people on the staff. He is cordial to his fellow hosts and the senior executives, but to anyone below him they say he treats them like dirt.”

Dirt, of course, could also describe ratings for the program, which consistently now loses out to Good Morning America.

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Don't believe everything you read about Matt Lauer and Today.

So says executive producer Don Nash, who recently sat in on a focus group filled with women and heard their response to the question of what would cause them to stop watching the NBC morning program.

"Every one of them said, 'If Matt Lauer were to leave,'" Nash says. "Their opinions didn't square with what we had been reading in the papers and on websites."

That's for sure.

Lauer has been under major fire over the past few weeks, from reportedly making sexist remarks about female producers... to being responsible for Ann Curry's firing... to apologizing to a former intern for not being very nice.

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Just when you think things can't get worse for Matt Lauer...

According to the latest issue of Us Weekly - which features Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn on the cover - the embattled Today Show host was asked awhile back to help select one of three female producers to come in and turn around the program's dwindling ratings.

Lauer allegedly nixed all three and "told a senior staffer the idea of these women running the show reminded him of Lilith Fair."

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A new cover story in New York magazine seeks to expose the mess that has led The Today Show to its lowest ratings in year.

And while author Joe Hagan reports that Matt Lauer nearly left for ABC last year, the most explosive passages document that anchor contentious relationship with Ann Curry.

"Everybody at NBC, everybody at the Today show, everybody understood that Ann was kicked out of her position because Matt didn't want her there," an important NBC staffer told Hagan for the story. "That's why it was so personal between Ann and Matt."

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It's been a very tough year for Matt Lauer.

The Today Show host has come under extreme fire for how he and NBC fired Ann Curry, while his program has sank to second in the ratings behind Good Morning America.

Speaking to The Daily Beast about the departure of his ex-colleague, Lauer admits it didn't exactly go smoothly.

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Where in the world is Matt Lauer?

It's a question The Today Show has asked for years, but the answer this week has created even more controversy around NBC.

TMZ has learned that Lauer is on vacation with his family in Vail, a seemingly innocuous luxury, except for two facts:

1. It is February Sweeps, the television period where ratings truly translate into advertising dollars.
2. With Robin Roberts returning yesterday to Good Morning America, you would think Today would want its lead anchor in place to go up against such stiff competition.

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Goodbye, Matt Lauer? Hello, Willie Geist?

With Today Show ratings remaining stagnant, insiders tell Radar Online that Lauer's job as main host of the morning program is in jeopardy, especially because producers already have a replacement lined up.

"[Willie Geist] is absolutely being groomed to become Matt Lauer's replacement if the ratings don't improve," the source alleges. "Willie has been filling in for Matt while he has been on vacation during the holidays and has been doing an phenomenal job."

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What will The Today Show look like without Matt Lauer and his impressive middle-aged body? Viewers will find out in 2013.

A source tells Entertainment Tonight the journalist will exit the morning series when his deal expires on December 31, 2012. He has served as co-anchor since 1997.

This report follows other shake-ups at the network: insiders claim Meredith Vieira will also depart Today in September, while Katie Couric will soon leave as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

Expect all three to be seriously hot commodities once their deals expire.

[Photo: WENN.com]