NBCUniversal has brought back Andrew Lack to fix NBC News. Lack, who ran the news division from 1992-2001 before becoming CEO of the entire network, is returning as Chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, and will report directly to NBCUniversal​ Chairman Steve Burke. NBC News President Deborah Turness and MSNBC President Phil Griffin will both report to Lack.

Lack has a big task in front of him; the past year has seen the Brian Williams scandal, a very public change in Meet the Press hosts, a revolt by Today Show anchors, and the collapse of MSNBC ratings, which led to the shuffling of its daytime lineup and rumors of an impending prime-time shake up.

Based on the recent performance of NBC News and MSNBC, it is reasonable to assume that with the return of Andrew Lack, NBC News President Deborah Turness and MSNBC President Phil Griffin are now in the hot seat.

According to Variety:

In naming Lack to the role, NBCUniversal has tapped someone who recalls when the company’s news operations firmly led the rest of the TV universe.  Under his aegis, “Today,” “NBC Nightly News” and “Meet the Press” all inhabited the number-one spot. And Lack has experience turning the division around. When he was named president of NBC News in 1993, it was after the division had suffered a black eye in the wake of a report on “Dateline” in which producers admitted to rigging a pickup truck to catch fire as part of a report on General Motors pickup trucks. GM in turn sued NBC for defamation.

Since leaving NBC in 2003, he has broadened his executive experience. He was chief executive and chairman of Sony Music Entertainment; spent six years at the helm of Bloomberg Media Group; and, most recently, had just begun a tenure as chief executive of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Lack has ties to some of NBC’s best-known journalists, including Katie Couric, and had a role in positioning Brian Williams for the “Nightly News” anchor chair. Though some speculation has erupted in recent days that Lack’s rise may augur a return for Williams. But that idea is widely believed not to dovetail with the reality of the situation, and insiders feel a reversal of Williams’ fortunes under Lack is in no way a fait accompli.

Lack may already be making changes. According to the NY Daily News, "Katie Couric is in talks to return to embattled NBC. Sources at the network confirmed that Couric has already been talking to her longtime fan Andrew Lack, the former NBC exec who was named head of NBC News this morning."