NBC boss in hot seat as news empire crumbles

Comcast boss Brian Roberts once described NBC News assets as the crown jewels of NBCUniversal.

Well, Roberts’ jewels need polishing.

Under Comcast’s ownership, NBC’s three once-unbeatable pillars — “Today,” “Meet the Press” and “Nightly News” — are under siege.

The morning and Sunday news shows have over the last few years lost their No. 1 ratings spots — and now what was the last remaining ratings champ, “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” is showing a serious fissure.

For the first time in five years, “Nightly News” lost in all demographics to ABC’s “World News with David Muir,” according to Nielsen numbers for the latest week.

In September, “World News” attracted 2.2 million viewers, compared with 1.9 million for “Nightly,” in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic advertisers care about.

Over the 12 months ended Sept. 30, “World News” on Disney’s ABC saw ratings in that key demo jump 16 percent while “Nightly News” ratings tumbled 18 percent.

The slide is turning up the heat on NBC News boss Deborah Turness, who has been on the hot seat since her arrival in August 2013. NBC News Chairwoman Patricia Fili-Krushel drafted the 47-year-old British import to lead the news division in a more profitable direction.

News analyst Andrew Tyndall noted in a widely discussed blog Tuesday that NBC News is suffering from being piggy-in-the-middle to ABC’s pop culture-driven format and CBS’s hard news formula.

NBC News for years has been the leader and it seems that ABC has really taken it to them.

 - Horizon Media Chief Researcher Brad Adgate

So far, ABC News is winning. Critics write that ABC is succeeding because of its Disney-fication — that is, leaning on celebrity features, like an “exclusive” piece on the return of the TV series “Mad Men” or a focus on comedian Jimmy Kimmel, whose own show is on the same Mouse House network.

“NBC’s celebrity focus in September may be a sign that this middle ground is beginning to feel squeezed and that it has to compete more and more on ABC’s turf,” Tyndall wrote.

To illustrate the point that NBC may be chasing ABC’s strategy, New York magazine revealed Wednesday that Turness had considered Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart as a replacement for “Meet the Press” host David Gregory — before choosing Chuck Todd.

“The criticism you’d make of NBC News is that they were slow to react to it [ABC],” Tyndall told The Post.

Tyndall calculated that last month ABC spent 38 minutes, or 10 percent of its coverage, reporting on the war in Iraq and Syria, versus NBC’s 62 minutes, or 15 percent of its coverage.

“NBC News for years has been the leader and it seems that ABC has really taken it to them,” Brad Adgate, chief researcher at Horizon Media, told The Post.

While NBC critics are wondering whether Turness’ days are numbered, sources close to NBC News say she has the support of her bosses and that the network is sticking to its quality mandate.

Despite its ratings decline, “Today” is expected to bring in record profits this year.

The profits, sources said, are, in part, the result of Turness’ embrace of sponsored segments.

NBC News reps declined to comment.