In the dark: Matt Lauer (pictured) was not told about Megyn Kelly's impending arrival at NBC until Tuesday, sources said. The Today Show host only found out just before everyone else

Today Show host Matt Lauer was totally clueless about Megyn Kelly's negotiations to join him and the other staff at NBC, even after she had handed in her notice to Fox, sources claim.

Lauer only found out that Kelly would be coming on board the channel Tuesday, just before her newly signed contract was publicly announced, they said.

According to TMZ, sources said the 'notoriously territorial' Lauer 'blew a gasket' when he discovered that he would be sharing the channel with the Fox megastar - though NBC insiders denied that particular claim.

Not that everyone on the Today Show was unaware of Kelly's impending arrival at the channel, sources told the site.

The show's top producer, Noah Oppenheim was one of the select few who were kept up to date on Kelly's negotiations with the channel.

That led to some speculation that Kelly might be Today Show-bound, although so far she has only been confirmed to be on a 'daily daytime show' and a Sunday news magazine.

Lauer wasn't the only one kept in the dark, sources said.

In fact, only a 'handful' of its most prominent staff were given notice, insiders said.

Like her Today Show colleague Lauer, Savannah Guthrie was only told just before the official public announcement.

So were Chuck Todd, anchor of MSNBC's Meet the Press, and Lester Holt, face of NBC Nightly News.

But most others at the station found out when the news media got hold of the story.

Lauer can take some comfort, however, in the knowledge that he's pulling in far more money than NBC's newest star.

On Wednesday it emerged that the channel had agreed to match Kelly's Fox fees of $15 m per year - that's $10 million less than Lauer.

Had Kelly stayed on at Fox, she would have earned the same as him, however; they had tried to tempt her with a $25 million, four-year contract.

But she said she took the NBC contract because it allowed her to spend more time with her family.