NY AG Probes NBC News on Sex Misconduct Charges; Andy Lack is Out as Chairman

By: JV Staff

After a controversial tenure, Andy Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC since 2015, was told last Monday that he would be replaced as part of a corporate restructuring. Telemundo executive Cesar Conde will now be in charge of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC.

According to an AP report, Lack’s departure was revealed when Jeff Shell, new NBC Universal CEO, outlined a new corporate governance plan. Besides Conde’s elevation, Shell is giving broad new powers over NBC’s entertainment properties to Mark Lazarus, who has overseen NBC Sports.

The 72-year-old Lack has had two runs as head of NBC News, the first as NBC News president from 1993 to 2001, and he rejoined the company as news chairman in 2015, as was reported by the AP.

NBC News’ flagships, “NBC Nightly News” and “Today,” generally run second to ABC in viewership but are stronger among the lucrative young advertising demographic. AP reported that MSNBC has gained popularity, often second only to Fox News Channel as the second most-popular cable news network each week.

The news division was embarrassed, however, when Ronan Farrow took his reporting on disgraced Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein to the New Yorker and complained his bosses at NBC showed little interest in his work, as was reported by AP.  NBC said Farrow’s material wasn’t ready to be aired. Farrow has publicly disputed that assertion and provided proof by way of e-mail that Weinstein had pressured the NBC News executives to stop him from pursuing the investigation on sexual harassment claims against him. He insinuated that Andy Lack was one of these executives that had a hand in quashing the investigation that he was conducting.

Comcast Corporation, which is shrouded in controversy itself and is often referenced in a negative manner by President Trump is the owner of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations and a major motion picture company as well as theme parks. Sources have said that Comcast directs policy at NBC News.

Comcast’s growth from a small cable operator into a multi-billion dollar media and tech giant has been driven to a large extent by strategic acquisitions, both horizontal and vertical. Horizontal acquisitions have helped the company expand into a leading provider of high-speed internet, video, voice, wireless, and security and automation systems. Part of this expansion is attributable to Comcast’s in-house Xfinity brand.

Farrow won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the Weinstein case, and the restructuring was announced as this year’s Pulitzer’s were being awarded, as was reported by AP.

AP reported that Lack’s signing of Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly to a big-money deal turned out to be a high-profile failure.

Conde’s appointment as chairman of the NBC Universal News Group puts him in charge of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Under the old structure, Lack did not oversee CNBC. The individual presidents, Noah Oppenheim at NBC News, Phil Griffin at MSNBC, and Mark Hoffman at CNBC, remain, as was reported by AP.

Lazarus becomes chairman of NBC Universal Television and Streaming, putting him in charge of NBC’s broadcast division, entertainment cable networks like Bravo and USA, and the new Peacock streaming service.