Monday

Zucker's rising star
as Lack splits NBC

But don't expect Wright to retire anytime soon

   Andrew Lack's departure from NBC to head up Sony Music Entertainment, announced Friday, is an apparent victory for network chairman Bob Wright, with whom he is said to have struggled incessantly.
It may turn out to be an even bigger boost, however, for Jeff Zucker. Lack’s exit leaves Zucker, NBC’s entertainment president, looking more than ever like the network’s future commander-in-chief.
   NBC says it will not replace Lack, who has served as president and chief operating officer since 2001. But one of Lack’s chief duties, oversight of Spanish-language network Telemundo, will now become Zucker’s. Many of Lack’s other duties had already been stripped away from him by Wright.
   Zucker, formerly executive producer of "Today," has headed up NBC’s entertainment division since 2001. A favorite of General Electric chairman Jeffrey Immelt,     Zucker, who is only 38, has long been seen as the heir apparent to the 59-year-old Wright.
   Wright, however, does not look to be ready to leave anytime soon, and Zucker, though well-regarded, has yet to conclusively prove himself.
   One way he could do so would be by developing a new hit sitcom to replace "Friends." Getting the show’s stars to agree last month to a 10th season was a victory for Zucker, but it still leaves the network, which has dominated Thursday nights for more than a decade, with a big question mark hanging over its schedule.
   One sign that Wright intends to hang onto power is that he has elected to retain oversight of NBC News rather than hand it over to Zucker, a veteran of the division. Lack was in charge of NBC News from 1993 to 2001, at which time Neal Shapiro became its president.
    At Sony, Lack, who has no experience in the music industry, will be charged with meeting the challenges of declining CD sales and online music piracy.

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