With the announcement last week that long time MSNBC star Norah O’Donnell is jumping ship to CBS, many insiders are now asking what is going on over at the Peacock network? On air talent jumping between networks is nothing new but the sheer number of recent defectors both on air and off from NBC News and CNBC has to make you wonder whether there is something bigger at play here.

The abrupt end of Dick Ebersol‘s decades-long career at NBC may have been a signal to NBCUniversal executives, suggests Joe Flint in the Los Angeles Times‘ Company Town blog: “get with the program, or hit the road.”

Few people in television today have the stature and living-legend-ness of Dick Ebersol, who’s run NBC Sports since 1989 and who has reportedly resigned today after failing to reach agreement on a new contract. The New York Times cites sources close to the negotiations who say Ebersol pushed hard for certain parts of a new contract, including salary requirements, but new majority owners Comcast resisted. The Times reports Ebersol’s decision came after a morning meeting with Comcast executives that led to a 10 a.m. meeting where the longtime NBC executive announced to staff he was leaving:

One of the most enduring relationships in American television may be strained, according to a report in the New York Post. Dick Ebersol, the NBC legend who’s headed coverage of the Olympics since 2000 and every summer games since 1988 is in the process of negotiating coverage of the 2014 and 2016 games, creating “friction” between Ebersol and his new bosses from Comcast over costs. “This is a big test of what Dick’s role is,” said one source, talking about how free a rein new NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke will give to Ebersol,” reports the Post‘s Claire Atkinson.

Dick Ebersol has angered ESPN executives for taking a public shot at the network’s decision to feature a grainy cell phone video with a slurring Jerry Jones criticizing the professional prospects of college star Tim Tebow (that was previously published on Deadspin.)

NBC had been counting on the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics to defibrillate its faltering ratings and break the pattern of myopia and ineptitude, culminating in the Late Night Wars, that has marked Jeff Zucker’s tenure as CEO. The president of NBC’s sports division, Dick Ebersol, now finds himself the author and guarantor of another ordeal for NBC – one that the network itself concedes may cost them upwards of $250 million.

Seven years ago, NBC certainly didn’t anticipate (a) being the fourth place network, (b) the scattering of audiences across myriad cable and Internet channels and (c) the decreasing, perceived valued of television advertising. As valid as those reasons are, NBC still can’t pin everything on the media and economic climate.

For all of the punches Conan O’Brien has been taking at NBC hosts and honchos, it was only a matter of time before he caught a shot back, and it came hardest from NBCU Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol. Now, an anonymous former NBC Sports employee has taken to sports gossip blog Deadspin with a detailed retort of Ebersol’s own failures including the XFL, AFL, Universal Sports and the Olympics.

In a surprisingly harsh and candid attack on Conan O’Brien, Chairman of NBCU Sports Dick Ebersol told the New York Times‘ Bill Carter O’Brien was “gutless” to blame Jay Leno, and called him a “failure.”

It’s pure spin, of course, that contradicts the actual reason for these immediate changes. But O’Brien’s almost out the door, so apparently it’s time to kick him on the way.

A look at the Power Grid this week reveals a few fixtures that never waver. But just behind them in the rest of the top ten all it takes is a big scoop or scandal to send ripples through the rest of the rankings. Here are the big shake-ups from the past week and a look at what caused them:

One of the top executives in all of NBCU, Chairman of NBC Sports & Olympics Dick Ebersol, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, and he didn’t mince words when discussing two subjects he knows a lot about – late night TV and the Olympics.

The lengthy interview touched on two of the biggest stories in the news: the David Letterman scandal and the failed U.S. Olympics bid.