NBC News chief wants Brian Williams back on air ASAP
This ship’s captain doesn’t want to throw the anchor overboard.
NBC News chief Andrew Lack is looking for a way to put Brian Williams back behind the “Nightly News” desk, sources tell the Daily News — and Williams has told confidants he won’t leave the network unless he’s fired.
“Andy believes viewers want him (Williams) back,” the source said. “The feeling is that (Williams’) problem seems to be more with the media and other reporters than his viewers — if Andy can figure out a way to get him back on the air he will do it.”
Lack, a long-time Williams pal, returned to NBC in early March, and as chairman of NBC News will have the final say over the anchor’s fate. He and Williams go back a long way — he served as the president of the news division from 1993 to 2003 and had a hand at positioning Williams for the “Nightly News” position in the first place.
Word of Lack’s continuing support for the embattled anchor comes amid reports that NBC News executives hope to force his resignation by leaking damaging details from its ongoing internal investigation into Williams.
NBC investigators have allegedly uncovered 11 more instances where Williams is accused of embellishing facts about his role in world events — in addition to claiming to be shot down while riding in a military helicopter during the Iraq war. In one damning example, he boasted during an appearance on “The Daily Show” to have looked into the eyes of mounted Egyptian soldiers in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and had seen armed men beat protesters.
Despite the investigation and pressure to resign, Williams has been digging in.
“It’s been Brian’s position all along that he will not resign,” a source close to Williams said. “If he leaves it will not be his decision.”
Lack is said to be furious over the leaks and his attitude bolsters a theory among observers that there is a power struggle occurring within the highest ranks of NBC News.
“The fact that there has been no resolution and that he (Lack) is still searching for a way to restore Brian is making it very hard for us to move forward,” a network source said.
Also hanging in the balance is a reported $50 million contract that Williams signed last year with NBC. It is believed that should he leave the network on his own, NBC would only have to pay him around $20 million.
But Williams is said to be less concerned with the money and almost obsessed with restoring his tarnished reputation.
“He’s already got money,” the source said. “For him this is an ego thing.”
There’s also been word of pressure on NBC brass to resolve the issue before the network’s May 11 upfront — when television executives will present their new fall schedule to advertisers — but source say that officials will not rush and are in fact not likely to make a decision for “at least five weeks.”
Meanwhile the people who worked closest with Williams have been left in the dark.
Newsroom sources say no one at the top is talking to them and they have been left to read about every twist and turn of the Williams saga from various media reports.
NBC News officials declined to comment.
