The Hollywood Reporter

Guthrie mentions “Rock Center’”s move to Friday nights, a place where TV entertainment shows often go to die (though TV news shows have been a staple there for years). She also mentions the self-mocking piece the show did about the long, arduous journey to Fridays.

But NBC brass might have upset Williams with the move. He closed Rock Center on Feb. 8 with a segment characterizing Friday as its “latest resting place.” Sources at NBC News say Williams was angered that Burbank execs did not give the show the promised promotion, while plans to expand it to multiple weekly airings have been abandoned.

It is safe to assume that without catching on with viewers, a better timeslot or multiple airings were always going to be unlikely. The Huffington Post gets a response from NBC News executive Alex Wallace, who noted the parodical nature of the segment, and that the show delivered very strong ratings in its Friday debut.

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There are strong internal candidates, some of whom, it has been announced by Fili-Krushel, will take on additional duties. Alex Wallace (above, right), who oversees “Today,” and “Rock Center” will now oversee “Nightly News,” where she was once EP. Wallace, who’s been with NBC since 2005, would be the first female news president after nine men have held the job since 1968.

Phil Griffin will likely be considered for the job. As president of MSNBC for the last 4 and a half years he has given the network an identity and boosted ratings, consistently topping CNN — a network his close friend Jeff Zucker now runs. A front office and internal concern would be the progressive programming on the network, often not in line with NBC News standards. Mark Hoffman, president of CNBC, cannot be ruled out. Nor can Capus’ deputy, Antoine Sanfuentes, (above, left) who will run day-to-day in the interim.

External candidates are also plentiful…

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Elle

Representing behind the scenes, NBC News senior VP Alex Wallace made the list. On-camera, Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly was featured, as was MSNBC weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry. Other women on the list incude MTV programming chief Susanne Daniels and comedian Whitney Cummings.

You can check out the full power list here.

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How do you feel about the chemistry among your current hosts? 

I feel like there’s an awesome chemistry between all seven of our anchors. I think this is a group that genuinely likes to be around each other, and we all have the same goal in mind, which is just to do a great show every morning. It is among the most functional onair teams I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of different teams come and go on this show, but this group is clicking like I’ve never seen a group click before, and I truly mean that. And I think, unfortunately, a lot of that is getting lost in some of the snarky press that we’re reading about.

Has that been motivating to the staff? 

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Q: Why do you want this job?
Bell: Part of it goes back to being a kid and watching the Olympics, as an 11 year old, watching the Miracle on Ice. The global aspect of it is particularly appealing to me. Particularly at a time when the world could use its share of positive moments, the Olympics are a particularly great example of the world coming together. That may sound trite to some. But having done my share of Olympics, it doesn’t to me.

Bell also talked about leaving “Today”:
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Nash is a 23-year veteran of “Today,” and started his career as an NBC Page at the network’s Burbank studios in 1989. He moved to New York in 1999 to become a senior producer for “Today,” and has been senior broadcast producer since 2005.

“Don Nash deserves to be at the helm of ‘Today,’” NBC News president Steve Capus said in a statement. “He is a beloved member of the Today family who brings vision, commitment and a deep familiarity to all aspects of the broadcast. The formidable individual talents of Alex, Don and the ‘Today’ leadership are now combined and I’m confident our team is well positioned for success.”

More information below.

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“The Olympics is one of the signature franchises in television, and for more than two decades they’ve been a huge part of my life,” said Bell. “The London Olympics was especially exciting for me, and I look forward to continuing through future Games working with so many good friends and colleagues.”

The announcement about a new executive in charge of “Today,” likely NBC News SVP Alex Wallace, could come as early as tomorrow.

NBC’s press release after the jump…

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Stelter reports NBC News Group chairman Pat Fili-Krushel is likely to appoint NBC News SVP Alex Wallace as the executive in charge of the four-hour program, while looking for top producers for the first and second two-hour blocks. Wallace, who has worn several hats in her 7 years at NBC News, was just named EP of “Rock Center with Brian Williams.” She is a former “Weekend Today” and “Nightly News” EP and was, until the appointment at “Rock Center,” second-in-command to NBC News president Steve Capus.

Sources tell us no deals have been signed and no internal announcements made. Don Nash, a 24 year “Today” veteran and now senior broadcast producer will likely stay on.

Bell will transition off the show as the year draws to a close. He has been EP of “Today” since 2005, joining from the Sports division. Bell was tapped to oversee NBC’s record-breaking coverage of the London Olympic Games and is expected to do the same for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014 and the Rio Summer games in 2016.

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NBC News has shaken up its leadership team, promoting DC bureau chief Antoine Sanfuentes (left) to senior VP of NBC News, promoting David Verdi to senior VP of newsgathering, upping Ken Strickland to DC bureau chief and naming Alex Wallace (center) EP of “Rock Center.” For Wallace, it’s a return to overseeing a Brian Williams broadcast. Wallace was EP of “Nightly News” in 2007-2008.

Rome Hartman, (right) the former longtime CBS News producer who launched “Rock Center” as EP, will be shifting to the specials unit with a focus on election coverage.

Announcing the changes, NBC News president Steve Capus highlighted that the new executive ranks all came from inside NBC.

As you read the list of promotions and changes spelled out in this note, please keep in mind I’ve decided to stay inside our talent-rich organization for each of these moves – a real testament to the contributions of these individuals and the bench strength of NBC News.

Sanfuentes, who joined NBC News as a desk assistant in 1990, rose through the producer and executive ranks and was named DC bureau chief in January 2011. In his new role he will be Capus’ chief deputy at NBC News in New York. Wallace, who had been Capus #2, will remain a senior VP and will add oversight of “Rock Center” as well as “Ann Curry’s production unit and our health initiative.”

Verdi, a longtime NBC Newser, who had been VP of newsgathering, is now a senior VP, adding oversight of news affiliate partnerships and the NBC News Channel.

Joining Strickland in DC will be Meaghan Rady, once a producer for Tom Brokaw, who rose through the ranks and will now be deputy bureau chief.

“I’m grateful to Rome for his leadership, signified by Rock Center’s first Emmy last week for Bob Costas’ breakthrough interview with Jerry Sandusky,” Capus writes in his note, which you can read in full after the jump.

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• Related: Behind the Scenes at CNN’s Trayvon Martin Town Hall

Don Lemon jetted up from Atlanta to co-host with Velez-Mitchell, who mixed and mingled before making a beeline for Time Warner Center herself to participate in the town hall.

Velez-Mitchell made the biggest splash of the night when, during her welcome remarks to the crowd, she pulled her girlfriend on stage and planted a big kiss on her. “I won’t be doing that!” Lemon joked. “Ben doesn’t like that kind of thing,” he said glancing over to his partner, Ben Tinker, who is a producer in CNN’s medical unit.

CNN managing editor Mark Whitaker talked about his network’s commitment to diversity in the ranks and on the air. CNN was the lead sponsor for the event which was held at the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams showroom in SoHo.

Also spotted in the crowd: NBC News VP Alex Wallace, former “Today” show co-anchor Meredith Vieira, “CBS This Morning” co-host Erica Hill, MSNBC’s Willie Geist, former MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer and Fox News meteorologist Rick Reichmuth.

We chatted with FBN’s Gerri Willis who told us she has a new appreciation for the work of the Supreme Court after anchoring her show from Washington during oral arguments on the health care law. We also caught up with Fox News’s Alisyn Camerota and new Fox News political analyst Sally Kohn, who is settling in to her role as progressive pundit both on air and online, which

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Photo Courtesy: Newhouse School

Yesterday the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University held its fifth annual Mirror Awards ceremony, honoring the best in media reporting. You can read about the winners from FishbowlNY, here.

MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski hosted the event, which also presented special awards to Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.

Scarborough opened up the event with a friendly jab at his former executive producer, Chris Licht, who was in the audience.

“Our connection to the Newhouse school is through our executive producer Chris Licht. We have found working with him through the years that not only do you teach your students how to get out there in the media world and do it better than anyone else, but we have to say the trait that you instill that really means more than any other is loyalty. Sticking together through the years no matter what. How is CBS Chris?”

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was to present the award to Roberts. The Comcast CEO was unable to attend as he was in Switzerland securing the rights to the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympics for NBC. Bewkes took the opportunity to poke fun at his business partner… and now competitor:

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NBC News president Steve Capus — the dean of network news executives — invited his colleagues, from ABC News, Ben Sherwood, CBS News’s David Rhodes and CNN’s Bart Feder to the gathering.

NBC’s Brian Williams wrote on his blog yesterday, “Because competition stops at the water’s edge, and because some things — like the safety of journalists — are more important, I’m proud to say we hosted a great luncheon here.”

The presentation was by Tina Carr the director of the Rory Peck Trust, an organization named in memory of Rory Peck, a New York-born freelance cameraman, killed in Moscow in 1995.

Other attendees included, Jeffrey Schneider of ABC, Barbara Levin of CNN; NBC News EPs Jim Bell and Bob Epstein, MSNBC president Phil Griffin and NBC News execs Alex Wallace, David Verdi, Cheryl Gould, Chris Hampson, Stacy Brady and Lauren Kapp. Fox News was invited to, but did not participate in the luncheon.

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MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts flanked by Fox News anchors Kimberly Guilfoyle and Jamie Colby

TVNewser headed out last night to the annual NLGJA “Headlines & Headliners” fundraiser hosted by MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts. More than 400 attendees packed the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams store in Soho for the event.

The primetime outing pulled in the morning show anchors including NBC’s Ann Curry, CBS’s Erica Hill and Marysol Castro, ABC’s Sam Champion and MSNBC’s Chris Jansing. We caught up with NBC’s Natalie Morales and Chris Wragge as they swapped stories about their early morning wake-up calls.

We chatted with ABC’s Andrea Canning, about getting the first of the Charlie Sheen interviews, and about her competitor and friend, NBC’s Jeff Rossen who got the second, and third and fourth. Canning told us even as the story has died down, she’s still getting press requests to talk about it.

FNC’s Jamie Colby, who anchors weekends for Fox, told us about her news-filled Saturdays of late — Libya last weekend, Japan the weekend before. “And the Gabrielle Giffords shooting happened on our watch.”

Curry shared with us her experience in Japan last week, which turned dangerous for those covering the story as the threat from the Fukushima nuclear plant grew. “I’ve taken our crews

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On Friday, the Paley Center for Media will host a lunchtime panel discussion “to consider the impact of digital media on recent news events and the implications for democracy.”

Heyward will moderate the panel, which will run from 12:30 PM-2 PM ET.

The discussion will be streamed live at http://www.paleycenter.org/dialogue

The full list of panelists is after the jump.

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Longtime NBC Nightly News senior producer for foreign news ML Flynn is taking on a new role at the news network — Senior Producer of Editorial Planning. Flynn, who has been Nightly News’s lead foreign producer for the last two decades, will now report to News division VP Alex Wallace. We’re told the search is on for Flynn’s replacement at Nightly News. The internal email sent by News president Steve Capus, after the jump.

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