A word to the wise…

-- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/19/2000

"I just want to say one word to you. Are you listening? Plastics."

NBC Stations President Jay Ireland was only 12 when The Graduate was released and the career advice that "Mr. McGuire" imparted to the Dustin Hoffman character instantly became part of the American pop lexicon.

Ireland was in a unique position to get into plastics right out of college: His father, also named Jay, was a career General Electric finance executive. However, the elder Jay didn't urge his son to get into plastics. What he did offer was a GE contact that helped his son get into the company's Financial Management Program, which one source describes as a "very prestigious way to get in the door" at GE.

Before taking advantage of that opportunity, though, Ireland joined the U.S. Army for a three-year stint as field artillery officer in West Germany.

Then it was home to GE's FMP program and, two years later, on to another prestige assignment at the Corporate Audit Staff, where he rose to executive audit manager. One analyst who follows GE closely calls the Audit Staff the company's "proving ground for stars in the making."

In 1988, Ireland transferred to GE Plastics, where he rose to chief financial officer. In 1990, he transferred to the Netherlands to run GE's Polymerland-Europe, a plastics-distribution company.

Three years later, he returned to GE's corporate headquarters, where he headed investor relations. In 1995, he was named a vice president, in charge of the Corporate Audit Staff.

Those in the broadcast industry who have gotten to know Ireland since he was named president of NBC Stations late last year, believe he's on the "fast track" at the network. "You have to believe he's one of the candidates to replace Bob Wright whenever that happens," says one high-level broadcasting executive.

Nicholas Heymann, the GE analyst at Prudential Securities, worked with Ireland at GE in the early '80s and has followed much of his career. "I have a better knowledge of what we used to do after work," he quips. (Asked for details, he won't dish.)

But seriously, says Heymann, "Jay is definitely a big-time star at GE. He's very creative, and he's very flexible-to go from plastics to running the O & Os."

Another analyst, who has followed Ireland's career for many years, says he's just the shot in the arm the NBC group needs. "He'll bring a fresh industry perspective to a high-margin business and make those margins even better. He's a real business guy."

Come 2001, when the group will have to confront the profit growth issue head-on, Ireland will thrive, the analyst predicts. "Part of the solution is going to be reducing operating costs, and he's extremely good at that."

Ireland may be a real business guy, but he graduated with a degree in political science from St. Lawrence College in 1977, where he was a two-letter varsity man (baseball and football). He was married that same year to his college sweetheart (also a St. Lawrence alum), Valerie Lanigan. They have two college-age kids.