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NBC

NBC News is the news division of NBC, a division of NBCUniversal LLC, a partnership between Comcast and GE, with the majority held by Comcast. Programs include “Today,” “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” “Dateline.” “Meet the Press with David Gregory” is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, debuting on November 6, 1947. Steve Capus is the president of NBC News.

NBC News Produces ‘The Office’ Special

Last night NBC aired the series finale of its sitcom “The Office.” The show, which follows the wacky and touching goings-on at the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, was never as big a hit as comedies like “The Big Bang Theory” or “Two and a Half Men,” but found a loyal audience large enough to sustain it for nine seasons.

Leading up to the finale, NBC aired a retrospective of the series, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, and video footage from a trip they made to Scranton celebrate the show. An astute reader noticed that the retrospective was actually produced by NBC News, although it didn’t feature any notable news talent.

As strange as it may seem, NBC’s news division–not unlike ABC and CBS–will occasionally be commissioned for specials that are more entertainment than information. Peacock Productions, a production house within NBC News, is producing daredevil Nik Wallenda‘s walk across the Grand Canyon next month on Discovery Channel, just as ABC News produced his walk across Niagara Falls. Still, having the news division produce a retrospective on a show that could easily have been produced by the show’s own staff is sure to raise some eyebrows.

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NBC Sports Network Shaking Up ‘The Crossover,’ Dave Briggs Out

Just a few short months after the program debuted, NBC Sports Network is completely shaking up its early-evening show “The Crossover,” according to The Big Lead.

Dave Briggs, who joined NBC Sports from Fox News in January specifically to host the program, is being removed as co-host. Starting Monday, the show will have a new set, and Michelle Beadle will host alone, joined by a rotating cast of regulars. Briggs is expected to get hosting duties on another NBCSN program.

“The Crossover” was one of NBCSN’s highest-profile launches in recent memory, as Beadle was poached from ESPN (which wanted badly to keep her) and Briggs came from “Fox & Friends” weekend edition, which, while not as popular as the weekday edition, still does very well for FNC.

CBS CEO Les Moonves: ‘Great Drama Belongs In Primetime… Not At 7 In The Morning’

CBS is delivering its upfront presentation to advertisers, media buyers and the press this afternoon, and CEO Les Moonves took aim squarely at NBC and “Today” in his opening statement.

“We believe that great drama belongs in primetime between 8-11 PM, not at 7 in the morning,” Moonves quipped, as a photo of Ann Curry and Matt Lauer from Curry’s departure from “Today” appeared on stage behind him (see the photo to the left).

Of course, “CBS This Morning” also had a talent change in the last year, as Erica Hill left (eventually joining NBC) and Norah O’Donnell came on board. That said, the transition was free of drama in front of the cameras.

CBS News was given prime placement at the upfront, with Moonves introducing the division. The CBS CEO said that “under the leadership of Jeff Fager and David Rhodes there is a renaissance going on,” before introducing a clip reel with news from the last year. Scott Pelley and O’Donnell then appeared on stage to talk about CBS News.

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‘Today’ Team Pops Up In Trailer For New NBC Michael J. Fox Comedy

NBC is holding its upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall this morning, and one of the new comedies for the Fall has a TV news plotline.

“The Michael J. Fox Show,” starring, well, Michael J. Fox, has the actor and comedian playing a local TV news anchor named Mike Henry who returns to work after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

NBC just released the trailer for the show, which features plenty of jokes at NBC’s expense, and a special appearance by the “Today” anchor team of Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie, who interview “Mike Henry” on the morning program. TVNewser hears that “most, if not all” of the major NBC News anchors will appear on the program at least once, playing themselves.

Watch the trailer, after the jump.
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NBC’s Savannah Guthrie Is Engaged

NBC’s “Today” broke some news about itself this morning, as co-anchor Savannah Guthrie revealed that was she became engaged over the weekend to Mike Feldman, a managing director and political adviser at the Glover Park Group, and a former adviser to Vice President Al Gore.

Matt Lauer broke the news on-air at 7:11 AM (see below), with actor Bradley Cooper dropping by a bit later to give Guthrie flowers (video of that after the jump).

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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‘Rock Center’ Has Been Canceled

Breaking: “Rock Center with Brian Williams” will finish its current run on June 21, then shut down production.

“While we’re disappointed with the news, we are very proud of the hard work that the ‘Rock Center’ team put into the program each week,” NBC News Group chief Pat Fili-Krushel wrote in a note to staff this afternoon. “Rock Center” was given a 3-year commitment when it launched in the Fall of 2011. When it comes to a close, it will have run for 20 months.

The show never caught on with viewers and was moved five times on the NBC schedule in its first year alone.

“I would like to thank Brian, Alex, David and the entire “Rock Center” team for their efforts. The show will be missed,” writes Fili-Krushel.

There’s no word on the fate of the correspondents and staff of “Rock Center” or whether layoffs will be necessary. Some staffers will likely be offered positions in other areas of the NBC News Group.

Full note, after the jump…

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ITV News Editor Deborah Turness Expected to be Named President of NBC News

NBC News is expected to name Deborah Turness as its new president, a source tells TVNewser. News of her likely appointment was reported this morning in The New York Times and The Guardian.

TVNewser hears an official announcement from NBC News could come as early as next week.

Turness, 45, is the editor of ITV News, the news arm of UK broadcaster ITV. Turness drew acclaim at ITV for keeping it competitive, even against the well-funded and iconic BBC News. Her appointment will end a three-month search for Steve Capus‘ successor.

She was the first female to hold the editor position, equivalent to a network news division president here in the U.S. She assumed that role in 2004, and before that served as deputy editor at both ITV News and Five News. She also served as a producer in ITV News’ Washington DC bureau earlier in her career.

ITV News and NBC News actually have a business relationship, sharing facilities and even correspondents with the British broadcaster.

Capus–an NBC News lifer–announced that he would leave NBC News in February. His last day was in early March.

Since that time NBCUniversal News Group chairman Pat Fili-Krushel has been overseeing the search for a replacement. Turness’ name first came up as a possibility last month in an article from the Los Angeles Times.

Matt Lauer Signals For Placement of One World Trade’s Final Pieces

As we told you earlier, Matt Lauer hosted “Today” this morning from the top of One World Trade as the final spires were placed, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. It took Lauer 40 minutes to get up to the top for his live shot location. “I’m not afraid of heights, but I found my knees knocking at certain times,” he said.

Just after 7:30amET, Lauer blew an air horn to signal the workers to put the final pieces in place:

In The Midst Of a Big News Week, Scoops Fly Under The Radar

The Cleveland kidnapping, the Boston bombing, The Benghazi hearing, the Jodi Arias verdict.

It is a big week for TV news, and as a result some big scoops are at risk of falling through the cracks.

This morning “CBS This Morning” had a pair of scoops: an interview with a Secret Service agent suspended after the now-infamous outing in Cartegena, Colombia (watch below). “CTM” also had a story about a $45 million bank heist executed by hackers.

NBC News meanwhile is touting an interview Ann Curry conducted with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime Minister of Turkey, who insists that their intelligence indicates that Syria has used chemical weapons on its own people. The interview was conducted this afternoon, and it made news in Turkey. Whether it gets substantial coverage stateside remains to be seen.

Five Months After Being Kidnapped There, Richard Engel Returns to Syria

NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production team traveled into Syria early this morning to investigate the reported use of chemical weapons there. Engel interviewed rebel leaders and their supporters about the ongoing civil war that has already claimed 70,000 lives.

In December, Engel and his producer Ghazi Balkiz, camera operator John Kooistra, and freelance journalist Aziz Akyavas were driving in a rebel-controlled area when a group of gunmen stormed their vehicle, dragged them from their car, executed one of the rebels they were traveling with, and held them hostage. Over five days, they were moved them from safehouse to safehouse while being subject to psychological warfare, including mock executions.

Engel’s reports from today will begin airing on NBC tomorrow.

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