Broadcaster NBC -- preparing to merge with the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal -- on Monday shuffled management, with entertainment division president Jeff Zucker given oversight of both network news and entertainment programming.
NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., said Zucker's new title, President, Entertainment, News and Cable Group, would give him oversight of entertainment on NBC and Bravo, prime time entertainment on Telemundo, and news for NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)
Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment for the last three years, has experience on the news side, having served as executive producer of the network's staple morning program "Today."
The move would set Zucker up with oversight for the Vivendi Universal Entertainment cable channels that will be part of the new NBC Universal, including Trio, USA and Sci Fi.
Randy Falco, president of the NBC Television Network and the commercial and operational counterpart to Zucker's programming role, will also take responsibility for the Telemundo Network under the new structure.
Jay Ireland, who oversees NBC's 14 owned-and-operated stations, will add oversight of the 15 Telemundo owned and operated stations, NBC said.
The three executives were expected to have significant roles in the new entity, NBC Universal, which will combine NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
The new assignments are a mix of the responsibilities once held by Andrew Lack, the NBC president who left the network in January to take over Sony Music Entertainment.
