Jeff Zucker leaving NBC

This shoe has been waiting to drop for months. The CEO of NBC Universal told employees this morning that he will be leaving the company upon completion of the acquisition by Comcast. That is expected to happen at the end of the year. From the NYT:

In an interview at NBC's executive offices, Mr. Zucker, who is 45, said the decision to leave the only employer he has ever worked for -- a decision that he acknowledged was not his own choice -- became inevitable after a meeting two weeks ago with Steve Burke, Comcast's chief operating officer. "We had both gotten to the same place," Mr. Zucker said. "He made it clear that they wanted to move on at the close of the deal and I was completely comfortable with that."

[CUT]

Mr. Zucker conceded that his legacy at NBC would be colored by what he called "the rap on me," which has centered on his failure to solve chronic problems in the most high-profile (if not the most high-earning) part of the NBC empire, the prime time hours on the broadcast network. "Do I wish we'd had more success at NBC Entertainment in recent years? Yes, of course," Mr. Zucker said. He acknowledged one recent widely publicized blunder, the effort to shift NBC's late-night star Jay Leno to prime time. He said the move had been a risk worth taking, but one "that simply didn't work out."

Amazing that the guy is only 45 - it seems as if he's been around forever. Of course, don't forget that Zucker was just a kid when he made his mark as the producer of "Today."