Bell said in a statement that the timing was perfect to forge a new path that would build on his experience in news, sports and entertainment.
Jim Bell, one of TV’s best known news and sports producers, is joining NBC’s venerable Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as executive in charge at a time when the latenight mainstay is fighting for viewers with CBS rival The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is undergoing a major behind-the-scenes change. Producer Mike DiCenzo is leaving NBC’s latenight program. He just confirmed his departure on Twitter. I hear former Today executive producer Jim Bell is in talks to come in as new Tonight Show showrunner.
Exponential growth in the program hours generated by NBC’s biennial Olympics presentations have turned the sports franchise into a cottage industry of audience data and technological innovation for NBCUniversal. But the Olympics also present a metrics challenge for NBCU and Comcast, Olympics exec producer Jim Bell said Wednesday
Jim Bell’s first job at NBC at one point involved carrying an injured network executive around Barcelona during preparations for the 1992 Olympics. As demanding as that assignment was, it was light compared with the weight Bell will carry during this month’s Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
After seven years as executive producer of the Today show and leading coverage last summer of the London Olympics, Bell heads back to NBC Sports.
Exclusives
An NBC executive who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plan is not finalized said Monday that Jim Bell will be replaced as the show’s executive producer. Veteran NBC News executive Alexandra Wallace will oversee management of Today and a search is under way for Bell’s successor.
Jim Bell, the executive producer who spearheaded NBC’s London Olympics coverage and shouldered most of the criticism directed at the network, is poised for a promotion to a larger role within NBC’s news or sports division, according to four sources familiar with the situation.
While the media focuses on Ann Curry’s future, or lack thereof, at the Today show, the fallout from that decision has significantly strengthened the standing of her boss, Today Executive Producer Jim Bell. In fact, many of the news division’s biggest decisions, even those beyond the Today show, are now being run by Bell first.
For the first time, the network plans to show every event live in some form — even if it’s just raw video streaming online. But the primetime broadcasts will still use that traditional formula of human-interest features and taped competition. Today‘s Jim Bell is tapped to be executive producer of the games.
‘Today’ Boss On Lauer Rumors: ‘Ludicrous’
Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC cash cow Today, says the rumor that Matt Lauer has given notice that he will leave when his contract is up at the end of 2012 is “silly speculation.”
