Bryant Gumbel

In 1990, Gumbel was lured back to his sports roots as anchor of championship golf coverage on NBC, and in 1995, he began hosting "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" for HBO. His tenure on "Today" was not without its troubled moments and column coverage. A major brouhaha developed when an internal memo written by Gumbel to NBC brass suggesting changes in "Today" fell into the hands of the consumer press. As part of the memo, Gumbel suggested that weathercaster Willard Scott was not up to snuff for a news show which wanted to be taken seriously. Gumbel's criticisms of Scott were not intended for public consumption, but when they did become public, after several tense days, he apologized to Scott. Gumbel also was critical of the writing on "Today" and strove to make the show a news and not "personality-drive" program. Under his anchor watch, "Today" was either in first place in the early-morning Nielsens, or just a hair behind ABC's "Good Morning America," most often the former. After a 15 year tenure, Gumbel left "Today" on January 3, 1997. Later that year, he signed a lucrative contract with CBS and hosted "Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel," a newsmagazine that premiered in the fall of 1997.