MUMBAI: NBC prime-time development in-charge Kevin Reilly succeeds Jeff Zucker as the US television network's entertainment president.

Reilly, 41, will report to Zucker, who was promoted in December to assume management of both news and entertainment for NBC and its various cable outlets, including Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, and Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo, according to reports.

Reily's appointment indicates NBC's in-house preparations for the presentation the channel and its rivals are about to make for advertisers on the programming schedules for the forthcoming fall TV season. Also, the channel prepares to merge with the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal.NBC, a unit of General Electric Company, has ranked for most of the past decade as as the number one network in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, the demographic most broadcasters use as a benchmark of prime-time success.

"Kevin is perfectly positioned to help NBC to continue its tremendous run. He's worked hard on a promising new development slate for the next year that will extend NBC's brand and capitalize on our decade of dominance," Zucker said in a statement.Reilly, who began his NBC career more than 15 years ago, returned to the network in the fall of 2003 as president of prime-time development in a move widely seen as setting him up to eventually succeed Zucker.