Zucker Plan, Unbound



(image via NYPost)

It seems as though Kurt Andersen's media crystal ball was clearer than ours. Even The Gray Lady got trumped by the LATimes on this story (Hey Bill Carter, looks like Rebecca Dana isn't the only one gunning for your television beat ass). According to the NYPost (link via gawker):

"Jeff Zucker is expected to be named chief executive of NBC Universal early this week, succeeding Bob Wright, who has led the Peacock network for more than two decades, sources said.

"The transition - the subject of a Post article in mid-November - comes as Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of NBC Universal parent General Electric, attempts to shake up the entertainment giant to better compete with the Internet.

"Most traditional media companies have watched advertisers defect to popular online sites such as MySpace and Google, and NBC Universal is no exception.

"A spokesman for NBC Universal declined to comment on the change."

And from the prescient Kurt Andersen:

"Does he want it? When I asked him, it was the only time in an hour he declined to answer. But one of his good friends with no connection to NBC Universal says yes, absolutely. 'He wants it, and he thinks he’s been promised it. He’s very tight with Immelt. Immelt is his guy.'

"Stylistically, he would be an un-GE choice, but then NBC Universal’s products—journalism, comedy, drama, provocation, spectacle—have always been un-GE businesses. He’s Jewish. He’s short. He’s casual. He lives in New York City, not Fairfield County. And according to a fellow executive, Zucker fails—to his credit—to follow corporate etiquette concerning racy language: He says 'fuck' and 'shit' in groups, whereas fully Stepfordized GE guys only curse one-on-one.

"The former political aide, MSNBC commentator, and West Wing writer Lawrence O’Donnell knows and likes him, even though Zucker gave the series he created (Mister Sterling) a lousy Friday time slot and canceled it after ten episodes. 'Jeff is as Irish as you need to be to take over GE,' he says. 'I suspect that his stint in entertainment will end up as a paragraph in his final bio. Fifteen years from now, he’s either going to be in Jack Welch’s position or Jon Corzine’s position.'"

Says Staci D. Kramer of Paidcontent: "... The take here is that Wright, 63, is too old-school GE while the more casual—and considerably younger—Zucker, 41, may better match today’s environment. (Wright was 42 when he got the job after GE acquired NBC from RCA in 1986.) As James notes, Wright is a lawyer and financial strategist while Zucker comes from the creative ranks. Zucker secured the job by fixing various problems at NBCU, cutting costs with NBC 2.0

"Hard to say just yet what this means for NBCU’s digital strategy. Beth Comstock was an NBC vet who went to GE and came back to head digital and marketing for Wright ..."


One and a half years later, he is in Welch's. A future statewide race as prelude to wold-domination is presumably in the hopper ...

Also:

(FishBowlNY)

(Paidcontent)

(Variety)