NBC rattling behind scenes of ”Today”

NBC has ousted the chief executive behind the “Today” show, with the network’s biggest money-maker in a ratings slump and feeling the heat from ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Gone is Tom Touchet, who became “Today’s” executive producer in fall 2002 after five years at “Good Morning America.” He’ll be replaced by Jim Bell, who comes over from NBC Sports, where he most recently served as coordinating producer for the network’s Olympics coverage in Athens.

“Today” hasn’t spent a week out of first place in the ratings, but NBC’s position of unchallenged dominance in the morning has eroded. Its margin over second-place “Good Morning America” is 662,000 viewers this season, roughly half what it was last year.

On a handful of individual days, like the Monday after Pope John Paul II died, “Good Morning America” has even beaten “Today.”

NBC’s morning team of Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Ann Curry, which the network advertises as “America’s First Family,” remains intact.

In addition to its news report, “Today” has launched several segments hugely popular with viewers: an outdoor concert series that celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, annual weddings planned by viewers and Lauer’s road trips around the world.