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Zucker to REALLY step down after NBC merger
Topic Started: Sep 24 2010, 03:46 PM (542 Views)
Miss Rhi
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Zucker to step down after merger

Jeff Zucker got out in front of the changes pending for NBC Universal by announcing his plan to step down as CEO after the merger transaction with Comcast Corp. is complete.

Zucker's departure had been widely expected, although the timing of Friday's news caught the biz by surprise.

The exec, who has had a roller-coaster tenure since he was appointed prexy and CEO of NBC Universal in February 2007, acknowledged in an interview with the New York Times that the decision was spurred by Steve Burke, the Comcast chief operating officer who will oversee NBC U after the transaction.

"We had both gotten to the same place," Zucker told the New York Times. "He made it clear that they wanted to move on at the close of the deal and I was completely comfortable with that."

In a statement, Comcast chief Brian Roberts praised Zucker for having "led the company with integrity and purpose."

The Philadelphia-based cable giant struck a $30 billion deal with NBC U parent General Electric to acquire a 51% majority stake in NBC U, with rights to buy more of the company over the next seven years. Although the transaction has drawn steady fire from biz opponents and media watchdogs, the deal is expected to be approved by federal regulators, albeit with some conditions attached.

In a memo sent to NBC U staffers Friday, Zucker acknowledged that the announcement of his departure "has not been a simple or easy decision."

Zucker wrote: "Now, it is clear to me that this is the right decision for me and for the company. Comcast will be a great new steward, just as GE has been, and they deserve the chance to implement their own vision."

Zucker has spent his entire career at NBC, signing in in 1986 as a researcher for NBC Sports' coverage of the 1988 Olympic Games. He rose swiftly through the ranks and became the wunderkind exec producer of the lucrative "Today" franchise in 1992. He was tapped to head programming at NBC in early 2001, just as the Peacock was coming off a storied primetime run that the Zucker regime has struggled to match.

Zucker's status as a Hollywood outsider and his barely hidden disdain for Hollywood's traditional largess for creative talent made him a polarizing figure in the creative community.

Zucker was particularly criticized by rivals and other industry execs for implementing prime time stunts such as program "super sizing," which helped goose ratings but only temporarily masked bigger problems. The exec was also known for making bold pronouncements – such as his notion that scripted fare no longer made sense at 8 p.m. – only to backtrack on such notions later on.

The exec was also the architect of a complicated five-year plan to hand the "Tonight Show" from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien. But when the date came to give the show to O'Brien, Leno – and NBC – had some second thoughts, and concocted a primetime 10 p.m. strip for Leno. When "The Jay Leno Show" bombed last fall, NBC scrambled to move Leno back to 11:35 – causing a commotion that then led to O'Brien's exit.

Zucker was upped to head of NBC U's TV operations in 2004, and then became the clear CEO heir apparent to Bob Wright, who retired in early 2007.

While the mothership NBC broadcast net has been a trouble spot, Zucker moved the company deeper into the cable TV biz by helping to orchestrate the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios, which brought USA Network and Syfy into the fold. He also steered the acquisition of Oxygen Media and most recently the Weather Channel. Under Zucker and his top cable lieutenant Jeff Gaspin launched an amibtious plan to dramatically beef up the volume of original programming on NBC U's cablers, a campaign that has paid off particularly at USA where viewership of the cablers top originals -- "Burn Notice," "Covert Affairs," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" -- at times has outstripped NBC.

In his memo to staffers, Zucker emphasized that NBC U overall is in good financial shape which bodes well for the future under Comcast.

"I am proud that they will inherit a company in very good shape, with almost every one of our divisions enjoying their best year ever," he wrote.

He also stressed that he will remain at the helm until the complex deal is complete, "and that day is months away," he wrote.

Zucker, who at 45 is by far the youngest of his showbiz CEO peers, gave no hint as to what he plans to do after he leaves 30 Rock.

"I don't yet know what my future will bring. I've spent the last 24 years thinking only about NBC Universal, and never contemplated anything else," he wrote. "I haven't even begun to think about the next chapter."


Source: Variety
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Casey
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I hope this bodes well for Days.
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Mason


This is about 6 years too late...
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