In a must read, The Wrap’s Jordan Chariton writes about all kinds of juicy things going on inside 30 Rock as Andrew Lack starts flexing his muscles…
An insider with knowledge of the NBC News executive suite told TheWrap that under new NBC News-MSNBC Chairman Andrew Lack, who took over in April after the removal of Pat Fili-Krushel, NBC News President Deborah Turness’ influence has been significantly diminished as Lack tries to break down the walls between NBC and MSNBC.
“Andy has taken the reigns and allowed Deborah to stay as long as she’d like,” the insider said, adding that Lack isn’t imminently trying to oust her, but isn’t exactly pleading for her take on big decisions.
Also Read: NBC News President Deborah Turness Addresses Brian Williams Controversy: Read Memo
Lack is injecting himself into all decisions including dealing directly with “Meet the Press” brass on bookings (last week, Turness was appointed to temporarily oversee MTP and the D.C. Bureau through the 2016 elections) and trying to poach NBC News talent to MSNBC primetime.One of those personalities is popular “Today” and “Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist, who was approached to gauge his interest in a role in MSNBC primetime, but didn’t ultimately express interest. It’s unclear whether the idea was for Geist to have his own show or contribute in some capacity.
And then there’s this about the desire to bring NBC News and MSNBC closer together…
Whether it be lack of desire or lack or availability, NBC News correspondents have not been easily available to MSNBC producers for live shots.
One insider told TheWrap: “We’re told to book them as much as possible, but we either don’t hear back from them for long stretches or are told they’re swamped, maybe later in the week.”
If that’s fusion, Lack has a long way to go.
Yup…in fact it’s a scenario Lack should be all too familiar with since he was President of NBC News when NBC talent started fleeing MSNBC in the late 90s.
Filed under: MSNBC
