NBC News president Deborah Turness has named Matt Zimmerman VP of booking. Zimmerman will head up a new consolidated booking unit, reporting to Turness. Zimmerman has been the senior booking producer at “Today” for the last five years, where he will continue to devote much of his time.
“[G]iven that we live in an increasingly competitive environment, it is crucial that we leverage our scale and mount a highly coordinated effort to get the big prizes,” writes Turness in a note to staff.
Additionally, Aretha Marshall, a 16-year NBC News veteran who has worked at “Dateline” as well as for Peacock Productions will become senior EP of Special Projects, reporting to Alex Wallace. Marshall will work with the new booking unit on big newsmaker and personality bookings for “Nightly News” and “Meet the Press.”
Turness’s note on the changes, after the jump…
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 3:32 PM
Subject: New Booking Unit
Dear All,
Being the home of newsmakers and exclusives is a top priority for NBC News, and given that we live in an increasingly competitive environment, it is crucial that we leverage our scale and mount a highly coordinated effort to get the big prizes. Therefore I am pleased to announce our new approach to guest booking:
Starting next week, the bookers across the division will form one collaborative booking unit led by Matt Zimmerman. As Vice President of Booking, reporting to me, Matt will coordinate all booking across NBC News, leveraging the many assets of the News division as well as the larger offerings of NBCUniversal. In this new role, Matt will continue to devote much of his focus and his time on the TODAY show. He has been behind the show’s biggest hits in recent times, and that work will continue to be a priority. But with this new structure, the rest of the division will now also benefit from his expertise.
Our booking structure will be further reinforced by the addition of the very talented and experienced Aretha Marshall. Aretha will become Senior Executive Producer, Special Projects, reporting to Alex Wallace and working in close collaboration with Matt to drive big newsmaker and personality bookings for both Nightly News and Meet the Press. She will also be responsible for driving special network projects and Primetime content for the news division.
We are fortunate to have such great talent engaged in booking exclusive, powerful interviews across NBC News. The creation of this unit will help us leverage both their expertise and the scale that only NBC News can deliver.
I wish everyone success as the unit gets to work and know you will all support them.
Deborah