MUMBAI: NBC prime-time development in-charge Kevin
Reilly succeeds Jeff Zucker as the US television network's entertainment
president.
Reilly, 41, will report to Zucker, who was promoted in December
to assume management of both news and entertainment for NBC and
its various cable outlets, including Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, and Spanish-language
broadcaster Telemundo, according to reports.
Reily's
appointment indicates NBC's in-house preparations for the presentation
the channel and its rivals are about to make for advertisers on the
programming schedules for the forthcoming fall TV season. Also, the
channel prepares to merge with the entertainment assets of Vivendi
Universal.
NBC, a unit of General Electric Company, has ranked for most of
the past decade as as the number one network in ratings among viewers
aged 18 to 49, the demographic most broadcasters use as a benchmark
of prime-time success.
"Kevin is perfectly positioned to help NBC to
continue its tremendous run. He's worked hard on a promising new development
slate for the next year that will extend NBC's brand and capitalize
on our decade of dominance," Zucker said in a statement.
Reilly, who began his NBC career more than 15 years ago, returned
to the network in the fall of 2003 as president of prime-time development
in a move widely seen as setting him up to eventually succeed Zucker.
Reily's
appointment indicates NBC's in-house preparations for the presentation
the channel and its rivals are about to make for advertisers on the
programming schedules for the forthcoming fall TV season. Also, the
channel prepares to merge with the entertainment assets of Vivendi
Universal.
