At the same time, former WNBC G.M. Tom O'Brien will be moving over to a position overseeing NBC's Nonstop Network. 

Both will report to John Wallace, the President of NBC Local Media.

From the release:

Jack, who previously served as President and General Manager of WRC in Washington, D.C., since 2002, will assume responsibility for WNBC.  He will oversee all of the group’s New York-based local media assets, including the broadcast television station, the local website and digital channel.  A replacement for Jack at WRC will be announced shortly.

Said Wallace, “Michael is a tremendous leader who has guided WRC to great success, not only in terms of ratings and revenue growth, but also in helping transition the station from an analog business to a multi-platform local news and information provider.  He has an extremely engaging and motivational style and is always open to new ideas.  He’ll be a great fit to carry on the legacy of our flagship station.”

O’Brien, who previously served as the General Manager of WNBC, will now be responsible for leading the launch of new digital channels across the division. He will build on the successful launch of the NY Nonstop digital channel and apply that model across other television stations in the group.

Sources tell The Observer that following the Olympics, WNBC-4, NBC's flagship station in New York, will begin airing a Gotham-themed version of its experimental repurposed news show, Daily Connection. The show will air weekdays at noon.

NBC initially soft-launched Daily Connection at WRC-4, the network's station in Washington, D.C., back in September of 2009.

As we reported at the time, Daily Connection is arguably the first of its kind: an easily replicable, network-produced local news show that relies almost entirely on "found" material. Every day, a team of producers at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (led by producer Rich Latour) sift through the tide of stories that have aired or are about to air on other NBC Universal channels, ranging from MSNBC to Bravo to the Weather Channel to CNBC, and scoop up a handful of promising gems. Those stories are then edited into a package and sent to the local station.

From there, producers at the local station sprinkle in some regional news, assign a member of its existing newsroom staff to anchor the show and-voilà!-an hour of daytime programming that is virtually free for the network and the station.

Recently, The New York Times reported that NBC stations have extended their deal to broadcast The Ellen DeGeneres Show for another four years. How will NBC's 10 owned stations account for the hefty costs of the syndicated show at a time of sinking revenues?

Expect to see more versions of Daily Connection popping up at NBC stations around the country. After all, expanding the show beyond New York and D.C. could eventually save NBC millions in syndication fees. Earlier this month, according to The Los Angeles Times, KNBC-4 in Los Angeles canceled its 11 a.m. newscast. Industry sources expect that the station could be a good candidate for a Daily Connection expansion in the coming months.

In D.C., Daily Connection replaced Dr. Phil. Currently, the noon to 1 p.m. time slot at WNBC-4 is occupied by a half hour of Extra followed by Access Hollywood. It is unclear whether Daily Connection will simply replace those shows, or if there will be other changes to NBC's daytime lineup in New York.

A spokesperson for NBC declined to comment.

The admission came during an interview on WNBC-4's new 5 p.m. show LX New York, on which Ms. Simmons was making a guest appearance alongside Bravo executive-turned-night-show host Andy Cohen. 

Not long ago, in the spring of 2008, Ms. Simmons drew national attention when she was caught cursing out her colleague Chuck Scarborough during a live promotion.  Afterwards, The New York Post published a story under the headline "Silly Sue Simmons A Salty Swiller," in which anonymous sources alleged that Ms. Simmons regularly threw back cocktails before appearing on the air. At the time, Ms. Simmons did not respond to the Post. And eventually the maelstrom passed.

On Thursday afternoon, it was the mischievous Mr. Cohen who repeatedly raised the issue of drinking-and-anchoring. At first, Ms. Simmons seemed to skirt around the question successfully, but Mr. Cohen's persistence paid off.

"It used to be acceptable that you could go out to dinner and have a martini," said Mr. Cohen at one point (around the 3:00 minute mark). "Did that ever happen?"

"Yes," replied Ms. Simmons, who started anchoring on WNBC-4 in 1980. "But that stopped in the mid '80s, late '80s, because I looked in the mirror before--when I was about ready to go on the air--and my eyes were red."

"Really?" said Mr. Cohen. 

"I didn't feel loaded or anything," said Ms. Simmons. "But my eyes were red and that was enough for me to say...that's it."

"Oh my god," said Mr. Cohen, grinning.

At that point, host Megan Meany had seen enough. "I hate to cut off this reunion...." said Ms. Meany. 

Ironically, it was Ms. Simmons' first appearance on NBC's 5 p.m. hour since September, when the network replaced the sobering hard-news hour which Ms. Simmons co-anchored with the fizzier, effervescent lifestyle show called LX New York. To date, the show has struggled badly in the ratings--which might explain why it took a couple of days for this clip to come to The Observer's attention.

According to our source, this morning NBC brass informed host Jeffrey Lyons and the rest of the show's staffers that they were being let go.

Reel Talk first debuted on WNBC-4 in April 2005, and went on to become widely syndicated on stations across the country.

We left a message seeking comment from WNBC-4.  And we paged Mr. Lyons (who, apparently, has a pager!). We will update when we hear back.

Rumors are currently swirling at WNBC-4, NBC's flagship station in New York, that executives at NBC Universal are considering the creation of a daily 5 p.m. lifestyle show that could debut on affiliate stations around the country as early as the fall of 2009—and which could spell the end, locally, of WNBC’s 5 p.m. newscast, currently anchored by Sue Simmons and David Ushery.

Sources at the station believe that the new lifestyle show will likely involve Sara Gore (a correspondent for LX.TV who appears frequently on NBC’s new local digital channel, New York Nonstop) and perhaps a yet-to-be-determined male anchor.  

In recent months, facing a severe downturn in local advertising and major drops in revenue at broadcast stations around the country, NBC Universal has been aggressively reconfiguring its approach to local media. In January 2008, NBC's local media division acquired LX.TV, a start-up company that produced Web content about high-end culture, entertainment and shopping. Since then, LX.TV content has gradually found its way into more of NBC's local news programming, from New York to L.A. to Chicago.

In theory, by creating a 5 p.m. general-interest lifestyle show (Entertainment! Travel! Luxury brands!) NBC could replace multiple, locally produced 5 p.m. news shows around the country with one news-like show produced in New York—and, in so doing, save its local media group a bunch of money.

Such major changes could pose yet another blow to the ranks of local TV journalists, who are already suffering from major layoffs and consolidations. Over the past year, WNBC has shed dozens of seasoned news staffers, including most recently beloved sportscaster Len Berman, as its parent company transformed the station's newsroom into a so-called "content center."

In recent years, various WNBC managers have expressed doubt about the long-term viability of the 5 p.m. news, given TV audience's changing viewing habits. Ratings for WNBC's 5 p.m. news have consistently been dismal. In the summer of 2007, WNBC first experimented with getting rid of its 5 p.m. newscast altogether, replacing it with the entertainment show Extra. The experiment was short-lived, however. And the station eventually returned to news at 5 p.m.

Back in March, WNBC's news vice president Vickie Burns told Richard Huff of theNew York Daily News that changes were in store for the 5 p.m. hour. "In the same way you have to try new things, we're going to try to make that show a good show and a different show, and take good advantage of that opportunity," said Ms. Burns at the time. More recently, FTVLine reported that, according to its sources, "NBC suits want to turn the struggling 5 over to the network and use LX.TV at 5pm" and that "there is a firm belief by NBC Suits are looking to kill the 5 news."

When contacted on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for WNBC declined to comment.

Speaking at a media conference in New York in December 2008, NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker told an audience of media investors and entrepreneurs that if he didn't hustle to change the underlying model, NBC's local television stations would soon be like some newspapers or car companies—that is, in danger of going out of business. 

“Local media has obviously been hurt probably more than any other sector,” said Mr. Zucker at the time. “Can we continue to operate our television stations in the same way we have? We don’t think we can.”

The text of the email:

Felix Gillette checks in with WNBC where an "upheaval began back in May, when NBC executives announced that they would be restructuring WNBC’s newsroom. As part of the transformation, NBC would be creating a new 24-hour local news channel, a revamped local news Web site and increased services for mobile news consumers."

How are business magazines responding to the financial crisis, wonders John Koblin. Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman says, “We’ve had more meetings... And one of the things we did is we made a list of every writer we had and what stories they’re working on, and asked how their pieces are relevant, and has the landscape changed in a way to reshape their stories.” Plus: Times’ Beijing Bureau Chief Takes On India.

Plus: Elizabeth Banks... Power Lunchers... Election Madness.

“They fomented a Hillary revolt but I never saw any sign of it. I saw disappointment and unhappiness but never a sign of revolt. And they got a five-day story out of it.”

He went on to say, “Many of the pontificators were peddling a story that wasn’t true. They never got off their butts and talked to people and found out. I’m tired of yackity-yack journalism. First you create a rumor and then you knock it down. It was bull. It was a phony story. It was a product of neo-journalism” which he described as “a telephone game at a kids party.”

According to today's press release, the show will focus, in part, on "the reality and drama of planning and throwing a wedding in the New York City area."

Scary!

The news comes amid reports that NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker is scrambling, as the New York Post recently put it, "to grow the media giant despite being given the financial equivalent of the cold shoulder by parent company General Electric."

More from the release:

Sources confirmed to the Media Mob that in recent days Mr. Morrison cleared out his office and left 30 Rockefeller Center for good. He is thought to have taken a generous buyout package, which will presumably help NBC clear his hefty anchor's salary off the budget at a time when the parent company is dramatically overhauling the local news division.

The news of Mr. Morrison's departure came on a day when the New York Post published a piece taking a look at how General Electric might be tightening the purse strings at NBC in an effort to protect its triple-A credit rating. "NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker is doing everything he can to grow the media giant despite being given the financial equivalent of the cold shoulder by parent company General Electric," reported the Post.

(Afterwards, Jossip speculated rather convincingly that Mr. Zucker might be the anonymous source behind the article).

"Still faced with questions about GE's commitment to NBC, Zucker's deal-making is designed to both move the Peacock network out of stagnant businesses like broadcast television and into high-growth areas such as cable networks and digital, while at the same time laying off risk for the parent company," added the Post.

For local TV news divisions facing dwindling advertising revenues, "laying off risk" often translates into laying off veteran talent.

Mr. Morrison's departure comes only a few weeks after news that veteran local news anchor Jim Rosenfield had taken a buyout from WCBS.

Recently, David Diaz, a former award-winning reporter for WNBC, who now teaches journalism at CUNY, told the Observer that the ongoing changes at WNBC are just another potential blow to the future livelihood of the experienced beat reporter.

Veteran local news anchors may be facing the same dynamic.

"Experience for a long time in this business was an asset," said Mr. Diaz. "Over the last 8 to 10 years, it's become a liability. The longer you're on the air, the more money you make."