NBC News has a new president and a new European partnership.
Noah Oppenheim is the new president of NBC News, chairman of NBC News Andy Lack said in a memo to staff on Tuesday.
Oppenheim, who has been leading NBC’s morning show “Today” for the past two years, will take over for the current president of NBC News, Deborah Turness.
Lack said that Oppenheim will continue to lead the “Today” show despite his new duties.
“At moments like this — when a leadership position opens up — one of the signs of a healthy and thriving newsroom is the ability to find a worthy successor within your own walls,” Lack said.
Turness, who joined NBC News three and a half years ago, will now become the first president of NBC News International.
“She’s driven the news division on big scoops and exclusives and considerably upped our game on covering international news. Her commitment to ‘journalism with a capital J’ can be seen in the many prestigious awards NBC News has won in the last few years,” Lack said of Turner in the memo.
The tenure of Turness, the top female TV news executive, saw the departure of Brian Williams from the “NBC Nightly News” after a media firestorm over the anchor embellishing an Iraq war story, and “Today” battling with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the morning ratings wars.
The moves come as NBC News is looking to have more of a global reach in the news industry. It is doing this by joining forces with Euronews, a 25-year-old multi-language news network.
“We plan to marry the power of the NBC News brand and the talent of our people with a formidable news asset in Europe in order to create an international offering that will strengthen our news organization and change the landscape of international news,” Lack said in the memo. “This new venture will be called Euronews NBC.”
Lack said in the memo that by combining with Euronews, NBC will now “reach 277 million new households in 13 languages across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.”
