NBC names new chief for embattled news division
NBCUniversal on Friday named former NBC News chief Andy Lack to run the network's embattled news division, a move aimed at recalibrating the operation at a time of shrinking audiences for TV news and internal turmoil stemming from the Brian Williams controversy.
He will succeed Pat Fili-Krushel, who was the head of NBCUniversal News Group.
Lack will oversee NBC News and cable news channel MSNBC, but not CNBC, which had been part of Fili-Krushel's portfolio.
Lack, whose title will be chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, will start in April and report directly to Steve Burke, who is CEO of NBCUniversal and executive vice president of Comcast. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast.
Fili-Krushel will move into a new corporate role on Burke's executive team, Burke said in a staff memo.
Prior to returning to NBC, Lack was CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-controlled news operations. Previously, Lack had served as chairman of Bloomberg Media Group, which runs the company's television, radio, magazine, conference and digital businesses. He also had served as CEO and chairman of Sony Music Entertainment.
Lack joined NBC News as president in 1993 and oversaw the growth of Today, Nightly News, Dateline and Meet the Press. In 2001, Lack was promoted to president and COO of NBC and expanded his portfolio to include news, entertainment, TV stations, MSNBC and CNBC.
"Andy's experience and familiarity with our company and specifically the news division will be critical to our growth and future success," Burke said.
Deborah Turness, president of NBC News, and Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, will both report to Lack.
Mark Hoffman, president of CNBC, will report directly to Burke, but the business news cable network "will leverage the strength of the News Group portfolio," Burke said.
In February, NBC Nightly News anchor Williams was suspended for six months after it was discovered that his past statements about riding in a helicopter in Iraq in 2003 that came under enemy fire and was forced to land were false. A pilot who was at the scene said on Facebook that Williams' helicopter was not directly shot at, and Williams retracted the story and apologized to viewers. NBC News is investigating other Williams claims.
Lack will ultimately supervise the investigation and help decide Williams' future, but Lack's list of priorities are far more extensive. The network's morning program, Today, consistently trails ABC's Good Morning America in ratings. MSNBC, which has marked its turf on the cable news landscape with left-leaning politics, has seen its ratings drop sharply in recent years.
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News, while being anchored by Williams' substitute, Lester Holt, has held onto its ratings lead. "Of all the problems Lack has to solve, the future of Nightly News is low on his list," said Andrew Tyndall of The Tyndall Report, which monitors TV news programs.
Having overseen the expansion of MSNBC, Lack may seek to reinvigorate the operational ties between NBC News and MSNBC, Tyndall said.
MSNBC's tilt toward the left started before Comcast bought NBCUniversal in 2011. But Tyndall said Comcast sought to separate the cable network's news operation from NBC News, whose primary mission is to report general news. "Comcast actively tried to separate them," Tyndall said. "MSNBC was really hurt by being separated by NBC. (MSNBC) was a fertile training ground for people who are going to rise up the NBC ranks."