Steve Capus was named acting president of NBC News on Tuesday, replacing embattled Neal Shapiro, who resigned effective Friday.
Shapiro, news division chief since 2001 and a 12-year NBC veteran, had been asking off the presidency since May. No word whether he’ll stick around NBC News, but smart money says no.
Shapiro, Capus and NBC Universal TV czar Jeff Zucker were all Ziplocked Tuesday.
Capus was promoted to NBC News senior vice president in June. He scored major points last week with his coordination of NBC’s Hurricane Katrina coverage. (Shapiro was on vacation.)
Capus, 41, joined NBC in 1993. In ’01, he was named executive producer of “NBC Nightly News,” with Tom Brokaw, then Brian Williams.
No timetable for NBC to name a permanent successor, but the highly regarded Capus is expected to be on the network’s short list.
Shapiro’s resignation was no surprise. His laid-back style never really meshed with that of alpha male Zucker.
Some of the troops criticized Shapiro’s leadership for waiting so long before taking charge of the increasingly tense situation at “Today,” whose 10-year dominance is being threatened by ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
NBC’s single most important cash cow, “Today” generates more than $250 million in profit a year. Like Zucker’s, Capus’ roots are there – he was supervising producer in ‘95.
“It gives me great confidence to know that Steve will be at the helm while we navigate these complicated times,” Zucker said in a staff memo. ” … He has touched almost every part of the division,” having worked at numerous NBC broadcasts, MSNBC, and NBC News Channel.
Shapiro, 48, spearheaded the seamless anchor transition of Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams in December. He came to NBC in 1993 as executive producer of “Dateline NBC” after a 13-year tenure at ABC.
In a staff memo, Shapiro said he questioned whether he would “find the next few years as personally fulfilling as the first four” of his presidency, and that he was “missing the opportunity for the kind of creativity” he’d had in previous positions.
“Reflecting on all of this, I’ve concluded that it’s time to move on to a new challenge.”
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