• by Wayne Friedman , November 15, 2010

In an anticipated move by many, Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment Group, is resigning -- this after failing to find an appropriate position in the new company to be majority owned by Comcast.

Gaspin, in the position just over a year and a half, is responsible for all broadcast, cable, television production and distribution. In a memo to NBC staffers, Gaspin said he'd be leaving just after the merger is completed because a role could not be found in the new company.

He said this came after many conversations with Steve Burke, the chief operating officer of Comcast, and the new presumptive chairman of NBC Universal.

Gaspin, a twenty-year veteran of the NBC, had been giving the unenviable task of cleaning up the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien mess early in January 2010 after O'Brien's ratings struggled in his role as host of "The Tonight Show".

Gaspin made the uneasy decision -- ultimately rejected by O'Brien -- to move his "Tonight" show back a half-hour, returning a Leno to a new half-hour program in a post-local news time period.

The initial move to put O'Brien in place of Leno was something Gaspin's outgoing boss Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, ultimately took responsibly for.

Rumors swirled in recent days that Comcast's Burke has been looking to put its own stamp on his new leadership -- including Bob Greenblatt, ex-head of entertainment for Showtime, to run NBC Television Entertainment, and Ted Harbert, chairman of Comcast Entertainment Group, which includes E! Entertainment, to run NBC's television business areas.