NBC News President Rouses the Network

In her first year as president of NBC News, Deborah Turness received one message loud and clear: Welcome to the feeding frenzy.


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And, in her view, much needed to be accomplished: “People in the organization from top to bottom recognized that NBC News hadn’t kept up with the times in all sorts of ways, for maybe 15 years,” she said. “I think the organization had gone to sleep.”

When Ms. Turness, 47, took over last August, the division’s ratings had gone to seed. The “Today” show had lost its once impregnable morning news lead to ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Sunday morning’s “Meet the Press” was in steady decline. Only its nightly newscast with Brian Williams maintained supremacy.

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The future is a burning question for all television news outlets, as more consumers are getting news — and video — from digital sources. NBC had a long run as the dominant news network, but ABC’s surge has put an end to that. CBS continues to trail in the morning and evening, though it now wins on Sunday mornings. Defying most network trends, all three evening newscasts are up this season, with NBC posting its best viewer totals since 2006, an average of 8.9 million, up 6 percent.

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