Their relationship — both personal and professional — goes back more than 20 years. Katie Couric and Jeff Zucker both joined NBC’s “Today” show in 1989 — she as national correspondent, he was her field producer. In 1992 Zucker was named executive producer, two years later Couric was named co-anchor. That working relationship would last 6 years, before Zucker moved to the West Coast as head of NBC entertainment. Couric left NBC in 2006 for CBS. Zucker left NBC in 2011 after Comcast acquired a controlling stake in NBCU. But Couric and Zucker reunited last year as he oversaw the launch of her syndicated show, “Katie.” This morning, Couric has nothing but praise for Zucker:
“I’m very excited that Jeff has such a wonderful opportunity at CNN and equally excited for CNN. I’m also grateful that Jeff has been so instrumental in getting our show off to such a strong start and look forward to working with the fantastic staff we’ve assembled and building on the strong foundation we’ve created.”