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UPDATE: NBCUniversal insiders tell me “no promotion is imminent” for Jim Bell.
Reuters is reporting today that Jim Bell, The Today Show executive producer who spearheaded NBC’s London Olympics coverage and shouldered most of the criticism directed at the network, is poised for a promotion within the next six months to a larger role within NBC’s news or sports division. “Comcast is happy with current NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus, who took that post in 2011, so the company may create a new position for Bell, one that would possibly have him oversee the Olympics full-time,” Reuters writes. NBC has a contract to broadcast the next four games through 2020. London marked the first time Bell was in charge of coverage of the Olympics. Reuters says Bell’s immediate task is to stabilize the Today Show which after 16 years lost its #1 position to ABC’s Good Morning America this year.
Related: NBC Hammered Back Home For Not Airing Live Olympic Coverage From London
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Classic NBC failing upward!
Figures- the worst coverage ever
Did they cut away from his job interview so Ryan Seacrest could ask him a few questions?
Criticism won’t change NBC. Their ratings were high for the Olympics. That’s all they care about. If you want them to change then don’t watch their next Olympics. If only everone would do that then they’ll listen.
Right… watercooler tv that happens once every four years… they could show it on a two-day delay it wouldn’t matter…
It’s the Comcast way. Cut payrolls to Leno and then reward people for poor Olympic coverage. And then fire more people.
It’s every two years. Bothered by tape delay?? Just wait until the 2014 winter games in Russia…
Promote him? Keep him? Oh, hell no! He didn’t just fail to fix the ongoing problems with NBC’s coverage of the Olympics over the past two decades, he added to them (really, multiplied them) with a very special level of incompetence all his own.
Fire him, NBC — and hire someone who will cover it as the live sporting mega-event that it is and not the lame Super Bowl halftime show that *only* the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are supposed to be.
Unreal. The Today show is in a freefall – not just due to the incredibly clumsy way they handled Ann Curry’s exit, but because the content is terrible and the show looks tired. Jim Bell deserves to be fired, not get a promotion.
NBC, the ratings you recieved on the closing ceremonies are a reflection of our expectations of the closing ceremonies, not the job you did or the coverage you provided. Your recent attempt at ratings for Animal Practice will not be forgotten when I watch the opening ceremonies in Sochi. in two years, I’ll be watching the internet. NOT NBC INTERNET, and not COMCAST PROVIDED. I have principles. Your about to promote a man whose work was not held with regard and who has taken down the Today show, and in the same week, you laid off multitudes of staffers on one of your few number one show the Tonight Show. Seems like Comcast is the same old regime. The only people who now like NBC is CBS, ABC, and Fox. Your making it very easy to move to the internet.
Rio has the same time zone as Eastern US but I’m sure NBC will try to broadcast everything in primetime. That’s what you get when you pay billions to air these events.
I wasn’t upset about the tape delay because of the time difference that’s inevitable what I was upset about is the fact they didn’t show the EVENTS in a live to tape format. They basically did a 4 hour highlight reel and edited events to create drama and THEN added idiotic special interest pieces & faux interviews with Ryan Seacrest. And Jim Bell going on twitter to berate the audience that was complaining was tactless and immature. Welcome to the future pal and its only going to get worse in 2014. Maybe instead of taking time to make fun of the audience that pays for your house in the Hamptons, you should concentrate on getting the Today show out of its ratings dive. But of course Comcast will promote him.
It’s the Zucker model all over again. Did any of the Kabletown suits actually WATCH the opening or closing ceremonies? That, alone, would have been cuase to put this guy on suspension.
It’s okay, though. At this rate, he’ll be co-producing Katie’s new talker by mid-2013 (assuming her show lasts that long).
Seriously? After the fail of the Animal Practice spot that was juxtaposed with the Gabby Douglas Story and running the Kris Jenner spot over the 9/11 memorial earlier this month?
Its possible that he was responsible for growth or innovation in some other way and that is the criteria they are using for the promotion? If not, well then NBC …….continuing to run a company on incompetence will lead to financial failure down the road.
Sad.