Zucker to take top spot at NBC

LAT TV reporter Meg James gets the big scoop, citing four people at the company. Zucker moves up to CEO, succeeding Bob Wright, who had been top dog for 21 years and indicated that he wanted to stay on until the end of the year (wonder how much nudging was required of Jeff Immelt, chairman of NBC Universal parent General Electric, to make the move). There had been periodic rumors about Immelt having second thoughts concerning Zucker's ascension - and the LAT story notes that Immelt had put out feelers about a year ago to see if there were worthy candidates on the outside. But Immelt likes Zucker, and Zucker has done a decent job getting NBC back in the ratings game, with "Sunday Night Football" and a few promising series. Not so incidentally, fourth quarter earnings were up 16 percent, more than double from a year earlier. Zucker also oversaw a massive cost-cutting plan last year that resulted in 700-some-odd jobs cuts - and there's nothing like showing your prospective boss that you're not afraid to do the managerial dirty work. An announcement is expected this week.