NBC News chairman Andy Lack stepping down amid major restructuring

NBC News chairman Andy Lack is stepping down, the network announced in a Monday statement that also outlines restructuring within the media company.

Lack, 72, will transition out of his role by the end of the month. His departure had been rumored for some time internally, according to sources.

Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal’s International Group and Telemundo, will be responsible for overseeing NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC, according to the announcement.

NBC Sports Group chief Mark Lazarus, who also oversees NBC’s local affiliates, will be responsible for the company’s entertainment division.

The moves come just months after Jeff Shell was named CEO of NBCUniversal after serving as chairman of the company’s Film and Entertainment business. He replaced Steve Burke.  

“This is the right structure to lead NBCUniversal into the future during this transformational time in the industry,” Shell said in a Monday memo provided to The Hill. “Mark has a proven track record across every aspect of our television business from sports to local stations to entertainment. He is the ideal leader to oversee our television and streaming portfolio in this newly formed division, which allows us to have a more unified approach to our content strategy.”

Last week on a quarterly earnings call, Shell indicated that the company was considering cuts to its media and entertainment divisions in an attempt to offset losses due to plummeting ad revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“On costs, the question about whether we’re right-sized on costs given where the environment is headed, the answer is probably no, and we’re addressing that pretty aggressively,” Shell said during Comcast’s earnings call Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“And certainly over the next weeks and months, we’ll make pretty significant adjustments there across our business,” he added.