NBC News Group Chairman Andy Lack will step down at the end of the month, the company said in a statement on Monday that details sweeping structural changes that will go into effect immediately. NBC News President Noah Oppenheim, MSNBC President Phil Griffin, and CNBC Chairman Mark Hoffman “will now report” to Chairman of NBCUniversal International Group Cesar Conde. “This is the right structure to lead NBCUniversal into the future during this transformational time in the industry,” Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, said in the statement. The media conglomerate said the new structure “closely aligns” its television networks “under one division” led by Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Mark has a proven track record across every aspect of our television business from sports to local stations to entertainment,” Shell continued.
Lack came under intense scrutiny after journalist Ronan Farrow’s bombshell book Catch and Kill was published last year. The book accused the network of mishandling sexual harassment complaints, including one related to Matt Lauer. Farrow also accused Lack of being directly responsible for dropping his reporting on sexual assault accusations against Harvey Weinstein, which were later published in The New Yorker.