Logo

First Female Exec Producer of ‘NBC Nightly News’ Exits the Network

Mar 4, 2014  •  Post A Comment

A producer who spent almost 37 years at NBC News and was the first woman to serve as executive producer of “NBC Nightly News” is leaving the company. JimRomenesko.com reports that Cheryl Gould is headed out.

In a farewell note, Gould wrote, “I’m old enough to have had a wonderful career, and young enough to be excited about plotting a new course.”

She added, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I’ve seen election nights that I thought would never end. Interviews with Marcos, Mubarak, Mitterrand, Mikhail, and Maggie. The fall of communism. The rise of dot.coms. The end of Basys, Hurley’s, wire machine clatter and cigars in the newsroom. The start of start-ups, selfies, news branding, and ‘likes.’ I’ve lived through sixteen offices, nine news presidents, three corporate owners. And one new commissary.”

She continued, “I remember the Paris bureau’s old phone number: 359-11-71. I remember when there was a Paris bureau.”

Gould wrote that she decided to leave NBC after a friend asked her what she was going to do with her “QTR.” She asked her friend what the acronym stood for: “Quality Time Remaining,” she learned.

Gould added: “Yes, I’ve enjoyed a fine career, proudly done the woman pioneer thing, spent years helping to shape news reporting, but what about those tomorrows? Why not think about what would inspire me and what contributions I could make in the years ahead?"

“It wasn’t easy for me last fall when I told [NBC News President] Deborah [Turness] that I had decided to cut the cord, but I knew it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it,” she wrote.

nbc news-logo.png

One Comment

  1. Dear Cheryl Gould:
    We have never met and I feel we should have.
    Thank you for taking the years to do what you have done thus far as your contributions have had positive impact on the important process of informing the masses.
    From the jelly beans in The White House forward, it has been an interesting three decades.
    Having QTR, perhaps we’ll yet cross paths.
    Good luck.
    Peter Bright

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)