Rieder: Big challenges for new NBC News chief

It was a shakeup that had to happen.

NBC News has been on a serious losing streak, and new leadership was essential.

So Andrew Lack, who ran NBC News from 1993 to 2001, is returning to the fray as chairman of NBC News and MSNBC. The decision was announced Friday.

Lack, who succeeds Pat Fili-Krushel, began his previous stint after scandal engulfed Dateline NBC over a bogus report on exploding trucks. Once again, he takes the reins at a time of crisis, the controversy over Brian Williams being only the most recent problem.

NBC's Today show, long dominant in the morning, now lags ABC's Good Morning America. NBC's Meet the Press, long the king of Sunday morning, is mired in third place. Cable news outlet MSNBC, known for its liberal take on the news, trails Fox News and CNN. and its ratings have moved dramatically in the wrong direction.

The one bright spot has been the evening newscast, where Williams has kept the network in first place. But now NBC must decide what to do about the embattled anchor, who is serving a six-month suspension without pay for exaggerating his adventures while covering the Iraq War.

Then there are embarrassments such as the report that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would be charged with desertion, a story denounced by the Army as "patently false," and chief medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman violating her self-imposed Ebola quarantine.

There has long been the pervasive sense that the team of Fili-Krushel and NBC News President Deborah Turness, who stays in her job, wasn't getting it done, and change was essential.

Lack, 67, has deep experience in television and TV news. He has a reputation as an effective leader. NBC News thrived during his previous reign. It's not hard to see why NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke moved to bring him back.

At the same time, it's been a while since he's been directly involved in the network news wars, and the terrain has changed quite a bit since 2001. Lack's most recent job was CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a position he resigned this week. He also had a stint as CEO of Bloomberg Media Group.

Lack's ascension triggered speculation that this would be good news for Williams, who was groomed for anchor during Lack's previous run at NBC. But it's likely Burke will have a huge say in the matter.

There also are reports that Lack has talked to Katie Couric at Yahoo about returning to NBC, where she flourished as Today show host.

In 2011, Lack said in an interview with the magazine Bostonia, "I'm usually offered jobs where there is something big and broken."

Some things never change.