• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 19, 2007

As it looks to diversify revenue streams for its local station business, NBC Universal has tapped a 19-year company veteran to lead its English-language O&Os. John Wallace takes over as president of the 10 owned-and-operated stations, replacing new GE Asset Management head Jay Ireland.

Wallace, most recently executive vice president of television operations and production services at NBCU, has considerable experience in the company's station operations.

He reports to NBCU chief Jeff Zucker, who said Wallace offers the skills that "will serve us well as we continue to grow our stations group in this increasingly digital world."

Wallace's responsibilities are less wide-ranging than Ireland's. Ireland oversaw the English-language O&Os (four of which were sold last year in order to concentrate on major markets), plus the 16 O&Os for the Telemundo network and the Spanish-language network itself. Announcements about who will take over the latter duties are expected shortly.

The overall NBCU stations business includes six duopolies, where an NBC and Telemundo station are in the same market. Those include New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the country's three largest DMAs.

Like most station groups, NBCU has looked to bolster its Web and mobile properties in pursuit of new revenues as the growth rate for traditional ad dollars slows. In addition to eponymous Web sites affiliated with the stations, such as KNBC.com in L.A., the company is moving into local portals such as the recently launched DigPhilly.com, linked with its WCAU in Philadelphia. The station group is also moving into the digital multicast area, where it has a presence with NBC's Weather Plus.

Wallace has experience in the digital area, having served as vice president of digitization and information technology for the stations group, as well as senior vice president of broadcast operations. According to NBCU, in his most recent post, Wallace helped create an HD facility for the "Today" show and worked in the multichannel area for the 2006 Winter Games.