New York ? After a lousy spring, summer certainly is a lot brighter at NBC’s “Today” show.

Television’s most popular morning program has halted a ratings free-fall and, by most accounts, improved enough so that those involved in it this week can exhale and enjoy a milestone 10 years in the making.

Nielsen Media Research should confirm Thursday that “Today” has been the top-rated morning news show for 500 consecutive weeks, a Joe DiMaggio-like streak that started in December 1995. When “Today” held off ABC’s “Good Morning America” by a mere 43,000 viewers one week in May, it was like DiMaggio beating out a bunt in the ninth inning.

During the angst-ridden spring, the top “Today” executive was fired, host Katie Couric faced her first real bout of critical press and “GMA” was clearly the more aggressive, interesting show.

Newsmaking interviews, like Couric’s sit-down with runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, have since made “Today” more compelling. Matt Lauer had a front-row seat to Tom Cruise’s head-shaking behavior. The advantage over ABC grew to 700,000 viewers during June 20-26, and 524,000 the week after.

“There’s no question that the sense and the buzz around the show and the production of the show is much, much better,” said Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal Television Group president who was executive producer of “Today” when the streak started.

Matt Lauer gives a rose tossed from the audience to his NBC Today show co-host, Katie Couric, in New York's Rockefeller Center.

Zucker reached into NBC Sports in April to find Jim Bell and appoint him to his old job.

The changes made by Bell and his executive partner, Jim Griffin, probably aren’t visible to most viewers. The two men have tried to give the first half-hour a harder, more newsy edge. And a trip to the “Today” video archives persuaded Bell to throw some scripts away.

Bell was entranced by old tapes of Couric and Lauer bantering during the show’s five-minute local news breaks. A handful of small NBC stations don’t show local news then, and “Today” instead offers a few minutes with the hosts chatting.

That easygoing charm was rarely visible on the air anymore, so he encouraged more ad-libbing. He’s also put Couric and Lauer together on the air more.

“I think viewers sense when things are really scripted,” Bell said. “It’s not always going to be magical television. But I think that’s part of the allure of live TV – that it’s not always honed to a fine polish.”