Jeffrey A. Zucker ’86 is expected to be named the Chairman and Chief Executive of NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric and the world’s fifth-largest media company, according to inside sources who spoke to the Los Angeles Times.

Zucker will replace Robert C. Wright, the NBC chairman who has occupied the position for 21 years.

Zucker has been the chief executive of the NBC Universal Television Group since December 2005. He was responsible for all programming across the conglomerate’s extensive television properties, which include the NBC network as well as cable channels such as the USA Network, Bravo, and Telemundo.

During his four years at Harvard in the 1980s, Zucker rose through the ranks to become both sports editor and president at The Crimson.

“He liked to walk around giving advice, even if it wasn’t wanted,” said David L. Yermack ’85, the Crimson managing editor to whom Zucker reported as the Sports Editor in his junior year. “Luckily, he had great charisma and a great sense of humor to back it up.”

While Zucker was at The Crimson, he wrote a controversial article defending the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, calling it “one of [America’s] most entertaining institutions.”

“Now that some of its suits resemble bottle caps, Sports Illustrated has been vilified for exploiting women and for being sexist,” he wrote. “Oh, please.”

Zucker began his career with NBC in 1988 as a sports researcher for the Olympics. At age 26, he became the youngest-ever executive producer of NBC’s highly profitable “Today” show. In 2000, Zucker took over as the head of NBC’s prime-time entertainment division, where he introduced reality TV to the network with hits such as “Fear Factor” and “The Apprentice”.

“Jeff liked to question the way things have always been done,” said Yermack, who described Zucker as a “great innovator.” “At the Crimson, and I imagine now at NBC, [Zucker] got his hands dirty and got involved in the details.”

The ascent of Zucker has been rumored for many months and was confirmed by several sources within NBC Universal to several major US newspapers, according to stories in those papers. General Electric Chairman Jeffrey R. Immelt told the New York Times in a November interview that Wright was “getting close to retirement,” and then proclaimed himself a “Jeff Zucker fan.”

Recently, NBC suffered a slump in ratings that temporarily put it in last place among the four major networks. But the network is now rebounding after the introduction of new shows that cater to a young audience, such as “Heros” and “The Office.” As president of NBC Universal, Zucker faces the challenge of keeping the media conglomerate afloat in an ever-changing digital world.

Zucker could not be reached for comment yesterday.

—Staff writer Nan Ni can be reached at nni@fas.harvard.edu.