Jeff Zucker Will Leave NBC

Oft-criticized NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker will leave the company when its acquisition by Comcast becomes official. Zucker made his decision public this morning in an email to NBC employees acquired by the Wall Street Journal. Though he says it wasn’t his choice to leave, he calls it “the right decision for me and for the company.” The Comcast takeover is expected to close by the end of the year.

Zucker tells the New York Times it became obvious at a meeting 2 weeks ago Comcast “wanted to move on at the close of the deal and I was completely comfortable with that.” He also says the departure is still “gut-wrenching in the sense that you have spent your whole life here at NBC.” What will he do next? “I don’t know,” says Zucker, 45. “I never really thought about it because for 24½ years I only thought about this place.” In other media management news, Jon Klein is out as head of ratings-challenged CNN.
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