Sam Singal has been named the new executive producer of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, replacing Pat Burkey who will now be the ep in charge of afternoon news coverage on MSNBC. Singal has been with NBC News for 17 years, with his most recent title being senior broadcast producer of Nightly News. Singal is no stranger to working with Holt, as he was formerly the weekend ep of Nightly News.
TVNewser has obtained a memo NBC News president Deborah Turness sent to her staff:
All,
AdvertisementI am delighted to share the news that Sam Singal is the new executive producer of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, effective with Monday’s broadcast.
Sam’s sharp news sense, as well as his creativity and proven leadership of the Nightly team, make him a strong partner for Lester as they take the broadcast forward in the new season and beyond. As senior broadcast producer, Sam has been instrumental in shaping the evolution of the broadcast, and Nightly is about to celebrate its 19th consecutive season as the #1 evening news broadcast in all categories. We strive to do even better but take nothing for granted, and there’s still much work to do. Along with Lester, Sam, Janelle Rodriguez, Jamie Kraft and the best team in evening news seven days a week, we all look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Over his 17 years with NBC News — much of it with Nightly on both weekends and weekdays — Sam has risen through the ranks and distinguished himself during coverage of major events such as the Boston marathon bombings and two Olympic games.
Both Sam, and Jamie, EP of the weekend edition of Nightly News, will now report to Janelle and Jamie will run the broadcast when Sam is out.
As Phil announced today, Pat Burkey is taking a key new role at MSNBC to help intensify their focus on breaking news coverage. His talent, passion and energy will all be invaluable to that effort. Pat is leaving Nightly, the broadcast he has led at #1 for four years, on a tremendous high note with its current ratings momentum, and I am very happy that we will continue to work closely with him as the resources of NBC News and MSNBC will increasingly fuel each other’s success.
And I also want to congratulate Kate Snow as the official anchor of the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News on Sunday, in addition to her exciting new assignment at MSNBC. As we all know from watching Kate in the anchor chair over the last few months, the Sunday broadcast will be in the very best of hands.
Please join me in congratulating Sam and Kate on their new roles, and in thanking Pat for his leadership of Nightly News, his dedication to the team and all the success he has driven.
Deborah