NBC took a step toward stabilizing its troubled news operations Friday by rehiring Andrew Lack to oversee NBC News and MSNBC, placing the two operations in the hands of a seasoned executive.
Lack, 67, oversaw NBC News in its heyday in the 1990s, when such franchises as the “Today” show, “Meet the Press” and “Dateline NBC” were dominant. During his tenure as NBC News president from 1993 to 2001, the company also started MSNBC.
But NBC’s news operations are now in disarray. Most recently, the network suspended its lead anchor, Brian Williams, for six months for exaggerating his reporting experiences. “Today,” once a money-spinning juggernaut, has lost ground to ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Meet the Press,” with new moderator Chuck Todd, is struggling to recapture its former ratings glory Sunday mornings.
And MSNBC, restyled over the past decade from a straight news operation into a liberal alternative to Fox News, has faced anemic audience ratings as well.
Lack jumped from CBS to NBC News in 1993 at a similar moment of crisis — as the network faced widespread criticism for rigging a truck crash on a segment of “Dateline NBC.”
“Andy’s experience and familiarity with our company and specifically the news division will be critical to our growth and future success,” said NBCUniversal chief executive Steve Burke in an internal staff memo released by NBC. Burke did not comment on Williams in the memo.
It’s unclear whether Lack’s rehiring foreshadows Williams’s return to the anchor chair at “NBC Nightly News.” Although the two men are reportedly close, Williams’s replacement, Lester Holt, kept the newscast in the lead during the February ratings “sweeps” and may have earned the job permanently.
Lack replaces Pat Fili-Krushel, a veteran TV executive who had little experience in news when she was appointed to run NBC’s news operations in 2012. She will move to a new, unspecified executive position within the company, reporting to Burke.
Deborah Turness, the NBC News president whose job seemed imperiled by the Williams crisis, will remain and will also report to Lack, as will MSNBC’s president, Phil Griffin. But Lack won’t have oversight of CNBC, the cable business network; its president, Mark Hoffman, will report to Burke.
Lack — whose title will be chairman, NBC News and MSNBC — had been chief executive of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a U.S. government agency that oversees government-funded radio and such TV outlets as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. He resigned from that job this week in anticipation of taking the NBC post.
After running NBC’s news division, Lack was promoted in 2001 to president of NBC, overseeing news, entertainment, TV stations, MSNBC and CNBC. He also spent six years as chief executive of Bloomberg Media Group and was chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment.