THR's Paul J. Gough scoops that NBC Nightly News EP Alexandra Wallace is returning to the job she once held with NBC News — front office VP. Longtime Nightly News senior producer Bob Epstein will be named executive producer.

Wallace stepped aside from the VP job, which was essentially #2 to news president Steve Capus, and took on Nightly in March 2007. Capus has been without a #2 since the summer when Mark Whitaker was named Washington bureau chief.

Nightly News has won the ratings race in Total Viewers eight of the last nine weeks, and won the 2007-08 season in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo.