Official: Deborah Turness Named President of NBC News

Deborah Turness

After nearly three months without a news division leader, former ITV News editor Deborah Turness has been named president of NBC News.

The announcement came Monday from NBCUniversal News Group chairman Pat Fili-Krushel, who led the search after Steve Capus stepped down last February.

“Deborah has built an outstanding reputation as both a journalist and business executive with a proven track record for innovation and collaboration,” said Fili-Krushel in a statement. “She is a leader with a global perspective, who is also very familiar with NBC News, having worked closely with us through our partnership with ITN. Her passion for the news business, combined with her creativity and vision, will be a tremendous asset to NBC News, and I’m very pleased to welcome her to the team.”

Turness will report to Fili-Krusel and begin Aug. 5.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, her appointment comes at a challenging time for NBC News. Primetime newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams – which had been moved around the schedule multiple times before landing on Friday nights – was among the casualties of the new season. NBC's Sunday morning public affairs program Meet the Press with David Gregory has fallen behind CBS News' Face the Nation with Bob Scheiffer. And the Today show has lost its long grip on dominance to ABC's Good Morning America. Today, which airs over four hours on weekdays and several hours on Saturday and Sunday, generates a disproportionate amount of the division's ad revenue. In 2011, the show's 7-9 a.m. hours pulled in $485 million. (For the same period, GMA had $299 million, according to Kantar Media.)

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