'Today's Natalie Morales to Host 'Access Hollywood,' 'Access Hollywood Live'

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Not even a week after the news was confirmed that longtime Access Hollywood and Access Hollywood Live host Billy Bush would be headed to Today, NBC confirmed that Today’s Natalie Morales would be headed west to take his spot.

Morales, Today’s 7 to 9 a.m. news reader and a staple of the show’s 9 a.m. hour, will move to Los Angeles to host Access Hollywood, Access Hollywood Live and be Today’s West Coast anchor. She’ll also contribute entertainment and other stories to Dateline and other NBC news programs.

“With our show’s increasing focus on West Coast stories, it became clear to me that having a permanent anchor presence in L.A. would be of enormous value,” Noah Oppenheim, Today’s senior VP and executive in charge told NBC News staff in a memo.

Industry sources note that a slot on a network morning show has long been Bush’s goal, while Morales wanted to live somewhere warmer. 

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.