Reports say Jeff Zucker will be named NBCU's CEO this week

Both the AP and TV Week are reporting that Jeff Zucker, currently the CEO of NBC Universal's television group, will take over for Bob Wright as NBCU's overall CEO, with an announcement to be made sometime this week.

This means that Zucker will oversee a pretty sizable entertainment conglomerate, which owns the network, the television production arm, and the Universal movie studio and theme parks. Wright was supposed to stay on until the end of the year but made the move after his boss, General Electric chairman Jeff Immelt, insisted he do so; he will remain as Chairman until the transition is completed.

Zucker, who's only 41, has had a pretty fast rise through the NBC ranks; only seven years ago, he was made NBC Entertainment president after a successful stint as the executive producer of the Today show. He was promoted to the television group's CEO position in 2004, despite the fact that he presided over the fall of the network from its longtime #1 ranking.

I encountered Zucker a couple of times during NBC's press tour session last month, and I've got to tell you, "pugnacious" doesn't even begin to describe the guy. In the informal, off-the-record talk he gave the group of reporters I was in, he was most definitely in a fighting mode; he asked the reporters as many questions as they were asking him, mainly about what they see in the competition. But, no matter what, he fiercely defended his own network's product, as well as the mistakes he made along the way. That personality, along with what is reported to be a close relationship with Immelt, is what probably led to his quick ascendancy.

Let's just hope he makes better decisions with the company than he did as a programmer; he was the executive who gave us Fear Factor, super-sized episodes of Thursday comedies, and more Donald Trump than anyone could ever ask for. I do give him credit for sticking with Scrubs, though...

[via Netscape]