MSNBC Primetime VP Griffin To Be Named “Executive In Charge of ‘Today'”

Michelle Greppi has the scoop: “TelevisionWeek has learned that Phil Griffin, VP of prime-time programming at MSNBC and a founding producer of NBC’s 9-year-old 24-hour cable news channel, is expected to become executive in charge of ‘Today.’” Greppi says Griffin’s assignment means that “NBC News VP Lisa Hsia can focus on her other areas of responsibility, including oversight of prime-time news programming.”

> Update: 8:55pm: “Phil Griffin’s appointment is great news,” an e-mailer says. “Not only is he associated with the ‘Today’ show’s best modern incarnation — the newsy, intelligent Bryant Gumbel-Jane Pauley era of the 1980s — but he is an aggressive, colorful producer in the Steve Friedman and Jeff Zucker mold. He is just what ‘Today’ needs to return to its prime.”