Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Wolff argues NBC has few better options than doing the best it can to gracefully return Brian Williams to the anchor chair at “NBC Nightly News.” Wolff writes that for returning NBC boss Andy Lack, who installed Williams in the chair after Tom Brokaw, there are few better options–the Comcast-installed leadership team has created no clear heir apparent:
Williams, however tarnished, stands for what television news once was, and Fili-Krushel and her lieutenant Deborah Turness came to stand for a faceless, ever-downgraded future.
Wolff writes it was Matt Lauer, who also ties his success to Lack’s first tour at NBC, who reached out and worked to bring Lack back to NBC–in the hopes of saving Williams:
Lauer, out of both personal loyalty and grasping the brand issues, became Williams’ defender. Lauer recruited Lack to the defense. Then Lauer became a driving force in pushing Lack in front of NBCUniversal chairman Steve Burke as a substantive news presence — in juxtaposition to Fili-Krushel and Turness.