NBC

The AP's David Bauder talks with NBC Newsman Brian Williams and NBC Newsboss Steve Capus about the bright spot at NBC these days -- the news division.

Both the "Today" show and Williams' flag-shift newscast have increased already substantial leads in the ratings over second-place broadcasts on ABC News since each of those competitors switched anchors in December.

Five years into his job, competing with ABC's Diane Sawyer and CBS' Katie Couric, Williams is now the dean of evening news anchors.

"Having turned 50 this year, I suddenly woke up and I'm in the demographic that my parents were in when they were in the prime of watching an evening newscast," Williams said.

And with NBC about to gain back 5 hours of prime time, will we see more of Williams and NBC News?

Williams is more likely to become a greater presence in prime time for NBC. The network will have time to fill when Leno returns to late night later this month, and Williams may start contributing some longer-form documentaries, Capus said.

"Nightly News" won't be going to prime time - that suggestion was facetious - but might it make sense to stretch a successful half-hour broadcast to an hour? After all, the "Today" show is now four hours.

"We'd love to have that extra time," Capus said. "If others thought that it made sense, we would obviously look at trying to do it. But at this point, our attention is on the 'Nightly News' broadcast that we have."

Williams is also not afraid to show his sense of humor away from the broadcast, as he did twice last week on other shows...

continued...

Weekend Today co-anchor Amy Robach had a pretty special birthday yesterday -- she got married. Robach married "Melrose Place" actor Andrew Shue.

The ceremony and reception, at The Lighthouse on Manhattan's west side, was attended by about 120 friends and family.

Some of the tvnewsers in attendance, Robach's "Today" show colleagues Meredith Vieira, and Ann Curry, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer, who Twitpic'd the night away, Alison Stewart and husband MSNBC VP Bill Wolff. Robach's former MSNBC anchor Randy Meier flew in for the ceremony, while her "Today" co-anchor Lester Holt was already in Vancouver for the Olympics. Also, "Today" show senior producer Don Nash, publicist Megan Kopf and former supervising producer Javier Morgado attended.

Shue's sister, actress Elisabeth Shue was also in attendance.

Robach and Shue met last Spring and got engaged in September.

Today is Tom Brokaw's 70th birthday. "I'm 70????" he jokes in an email to TVNewser, when we asked for his thoughts on the milestone. "Migod, is that true? How come no one told me?"

Brokaw is just as mysterious when it comes to his plans for today: "Alter my driver's license so it says I'm 49 — which is how old I feel (I'm not mature enough to be 70)."

But all kidding aside, Brokaw is keeping busy these days. First came the January airing of his USA Network documentary American Character Along Highway 50. Next up: the March 4 premiere of Brokaw's first originally produced CNBC doc, Tom Brokaw Reports: Boomer$.

The program is derived from Brokaw's 2007 book Boom!: Voices of the Sixties.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken is getting the most ink this morning for his role at yesterday's Senate Subcommittee hearing into the prposed Comcast/NBCU merger.

NBCU president Jeff Zucker and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts testified before two congressional hearings yesterday.

B&C's John Eggerton, who live Tweeted the hearings, has a couple write-ups, including the Franken angle.

Franken, who worked with NBCU President Jeff Zucker's wife, Karen, at Saturday Night Live, got the pleasantries out of the way quickly, saying how much he owed NBC and how super Zucker's wife was to work with, before taking off the gloves taking aim at the deal.

In The Washington Post, Lisa de Moraes writes:

NBC's worst nightmare came true Thursday -- the other, non-Conan nightmare -- when a former NBC on-air talent/producer turned senator went off on network and Comcast suits during a Senate hearing about the proposed merger of the two media behemoths.

"I worked for NBC for many years. And what I know from my previous career has given me reason to be concerned -- let me rephrase that, very concerned -- about the potential merger of Comcast and NBC Universal," said Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).

NYTimes' Brian Stelter picks up on the comments from Zucker related to maintaining broadcasting as we know it:

Comcast has made several public interest commitments and has said that the NBC broadcast network would remain free to over-the-air viewers. Jeffrey Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, said Comcast's commitments "give me greater comfort in thinking about the future of broadcasting."

Questlove, drummer for The Roots and Jimmy Fallon's house band, tweeted this photo of the menu from the NBC commissary at 30 Rock today:

Oh boy. (via Mediaite)

> Update: From TheGrio.com, a cook in the NBC cafeteria defends the menu. Video after the jump...

continued...

NBC News correspondent Jeff Rossen and his wife ABC News magazines senior producer Danielle Baum welcomed Sloane Ava Rossen into the world early this morning. Baby Sloane weighs in at 7lbs, 6oz. In a note to colleagues Rossen writes, "Mom and daughter are doing well...and I'm just overjoyed."

NBC's "Today" show begins broadcasting from Vancouver next week for the XXI Winter Olympics.

Matt Lauer will be in Vancouver starting Tuesday -- he's in the torch relay Thursday -- with Natalie Morales in Whistler. Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, and Ann Curry join on Friday live from Grouse Mountain.

The following two weeks will feature full Olympic reporting/interviews during live 4amPT broadcasts. Picabo Street and Kristi Yamaguchi are set to serve as special correspondents for the program.

This is the seventh Olympics to which "Today" has traveled. NBC is presenting 835+ hours of Winter Games coverage, more than the last two combined.

Press release after the jump.

continued...

C-SPAN3 (the tres) will be carrying tomorrow's Comcast/NBCU deal hearing before the House Communications and Internet Subcommittee. Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and NBCU President Jeff Zucker and others will be testifying on the proposed joint venture.

Coverage begins at 9:30amET.

Today on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell will sit down with Vice President Joe Biden. The live interview will air on "Andrea Mitchell Reports" at 1pmET.

Then tomorrow on "Today" Matt Lauer sits down with first lady Michelle Obama in her first interview since the State of the Union address. Mrs. Obama will talk about her first year in the White House and the launch of her new initiative to fight childhood obesity.

HuffPost's Danny Shea takes a look at the strong run NBC News had throughout 2009 -- "Nightly News," "Today," and, for the most part, "Meet the Press" all topped their competition -- and talks with NBC News president Steve Capus, who provided some insight into the mentality of executives at the network right now:

"Roger Ailes' sense of healthy paranoia manifests itself here," he said. "Staying number one enables everything that we do."

To stay number one, Capus -- who says all of his network's major talent are locked up in long-term deals -- will rely on his network's star power, which he calls "a Mount Rushmore of television news" as well as its deep bench of younger talent. He says his boss, embattled NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker, is very supportive in this regard.

"He is not a casual observer of what goes on here," Capus said of Zucker, who got his start in NBC's News division. "We talk all the time, and he is the first to say, 'Let's rip up this talent contract and renew it.' He is absolutely our biggest advocate."

While layoffs are coming at one of NBC's competitors this week, Capus said, "I don't see the need for massive cuts." He also told Shea that the NBC News is hoping to help local affiliates boost their newscasts. Zucker and the network recently faced significant pressure from the affiliates over the performance of Jay Leno's primetime program.