ABC's Jeff Bader to Head Scheduling for NBC

Rival exec joins net as president, program planning, strategy and research

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/1/2012 10:32:45 PM

Jeff Bader is leaving ABC to be the head scheduler at NBC, the network announced Wednesday.

Bader will be president, program planning, strategy and research for NBC Entertainment, reporting to Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment.

Lisa Vebber had been serving as NBC's senior VP of program planning and schedule department since March 2011, after taking over from Mitch Metcalf, who left in the wake of the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger. An NBC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Vebber's status at the network.

Bader joined ABC in 1988, most recently serving as executive VP of planning, scheduling and distribution where he oversaw primetime and late-night program planning and scheduling.

"I am thrilled that Jeff Bader is joining the new NBC family," Greenblatt said in a statement. "He is widely known as one of the broadcasting industry's most consummate executives and he will be integral to the re-building of NBC in many ways. He has deep experience in so many key areas of running a network in today's challenging environment that he will instantly prove to be invaluable to us as we look to the future. I am excited to welcome him to NBC."