Jim Bell has joined “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” as executive in charge and showrunner, NBC announced Wednesday.
Bell, who also previously ran “Today” as an executive producer from 2005-2012, has been president of NBC Olympics production and programming since 2017.
On Monday, Mike DiCenzo, one of the trio of producers overseeing the show, announced his departure after a decade in late night television. DiCenzo’s departure had been long in the works. Following the departure of former showrunner Josh Lieb in 2016, DiCenzo ran the show’s creative team with Gerard Bradford, while Katie Hockmeyer had oversight of production. Hockmeyer and Bradford will continue on in their producing roles.
Bell isn’t the only executive to make the jump from morning to late-night.
Over on CBS, “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” executive producer Chris Licht used to run his network’s morning show, “CBS This Morning.”
Though Bell has news chops from his “Today” tenure, Fallon’s “Tonight Show” will not add a more political slant to the show, a path which has led to success for Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.