The next year is not without its challenges for NBC News, the first division to take hits under the NBCU 2.0 restructuring launched in 2006.

“NBC Nightly News” is in danger of losing its increasingly slim lead over ABC’s “World News.” The long-dominant “Today” show will launch a fourth hour next fall and must try to stretch the valuable brand without snapping it.

Now that NBC is the sole owner of MSNBC, the only cable news channel growing its audience, this year will be enormously profitable. One billion page-hits per month keep MSNBC.com, in which Microsoft is still a partner, among the most successful news-information Web sites.

This year also will bring a series of Web rollouts, expanding NBC News brands.