In this Jan. 4, 2014 file photo, Tom Hanks arrives at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala in Palm Springs, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) --
An Ohio university says actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks will help dedicate the school's newly renovated motion pictures center.
Wright State University says Hanks also will participate in an invitation-only gala to raise funds for the Tom Hanks Scholarship and Visiting Artist Program. Hanks is a national co-chair of a $150 million fundraising campaign for the school near Dayton.
Hanks will appear at several private events in addition to the April 19 dedication and gala. He'll meet with theater, dance and motion picture students.
The Oscar-winning star of "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump" is not an alumnus of Wright State, but he has long ties to the school and a connection with its teachers and alumni.
He performed at the university with a Shakespeare company in the 1970s.
MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, left, Lawrence O'Donnell, center, and Chris Matthews take part in a panel discussion at the NBC Universal summer press tour, Aug. 2, 2011, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Comcast's corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with "NBC" in their name — CNBC and MSNBC — that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News.
How that affects viewers of those networks, along with the people who work there, still needs to shake out. Their new corporate leader, Mark Lazarus, visited the set of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" as the plan was being announced on Wednesday and spoke to network staff members during a morning conference call to address concerns.
Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, also including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel, into a separate company. That recognizes how streaming is considered the future and the cable networks are a drag on the bottom line.
In the space of a lifetime, the networks went from upstarts aside a legacy operation like NBC to profitable superstars to castoffs.
Questions range from the simple to complex
Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Universal Media Group, is becoming CEO of the newly-formed company of cable networks, temporarily dubbed "SpinCo." Cesar Conde, who as NBC Universal News Group chairman had oversight of CNBC and MSNBC, will lose those networks from his portfolio, yet remain in charge of NBC News, NBC News Now streaming, Telemundo and the news operations of the NBC-owned local stations.
The presence of Lazarus and Anand Kini, who will be chief operating officer and chief financial officer of SpinCo, is a good sign for the new company, said Jessica Reif Ehrlich, research analyst for the Bank of America. "You can't dismiss it as getting rid of the crappy assets, because these are talented executives," she said.
At MSNBC, questions about the future range from the simple — will it even keep its... Read More
