Entertainment

NBC Gets A New President

May 8, 2001 / 12:03 PM EDT / AP

Andrew Lack, who has presided over the ascendance of NBC News over the past eight years, was named president of NBC on Tuesday with broader authority over entertainment and NBC stations.

As chief operating officer of NBC, Lack will report to Bob Wright, who becomes chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Wright has been NBC's leader since 1986.

Lack has been NBC News president since 1993. It's considered the top broadcast news division, with the "Today" show and "NBC Nightly News" dominant in the ratings. He also supervised the startup of the MSNBC cable news network in 1996.

Lack, 54, will retain authority over NBC News, and no successor was named for him in that role. He will also oversee the entertainment division, NBC-owned stations, MSNBC, CNBC and the network's sales and cable divisions.

Wright, 58, continues as vice chairman and executive officer of NBC's parent company, General Electric. He will also keep control of NBC Sports, CNBC International and all of NBC's staff operations.

The move was seen as a way to satisfy Lack's itch for a new challenge while giving Wright more time to deal with GE business.

"I will continue to be extremely involved at NBC," Wright said. "I'm about to celebrate my fifteenth anniversary as head of the network and I care deeply about the company and its continued success."

Before joining NBC, Lack worked at CBS News from 1976 to 1993, moving his way up the production ranks at various news broadcasts.

He's the second news executive to take a major role in NBC's entertainment operations in six months. Jeff Zucker, former executive producer of the "Today" show, was named NBC entertainment president in December.

While the news division is doing well, Lack faces more challenges in prime-time. NBC is involved in a bitterly competitive race for dominance with CBS and ABC and has been slow to jump into the genre of "reality" TV shows, like CBS's "Survivor."

The profitable CNBC is the clear market leader in business news. MSNBC is third behind CNN and Fox News Channel, but boasts a younger audience than its rivals.