Jack Welch

General Electric keeps insisting that NBC is not for sale, but entertainer Bill Cosby appears to have taken a crucial step closer to his dream of buying the network. Cosby is moving into new offices on the 46th floor of the GE building in New York, only seven floors below GE Chairman John F. (Jack) Welch's office and six floors beneath the 52nd floor occupied by senior NBC executives. But a spokesman for Cosby insisted the entertainer's new digs on the 46th floor don't presage a bid for NBC.

A number of high-profile figures have received large sums for their nonfiction works. Pope John Paul II has held the record--$8.5 million--for a nonfiction advance since the 1994 publication of "Crossing the Threshold of Hope." Others who received huge advances more recently include Jack Welch, chief executive of General Electric, who got $7.1 million, and Robert E. Rubin, Clinton's former secretary of the Treasury, who received $6 million. Colin L.

General Electric Co. promoted three executives in its aircraft, medical and power businesses to the newly created positions of chief operating officer, preparing for possible departures after Chief Executive Jack Welch's successor is selected.

Shares of 3M rose more than 5% following a report that the Maplewood, Minn.-based company has chosen General Electric Co. executive W. James McNerney as its next chief executive. The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources, reported that McNerney will succeed L.D. DeSimone, 64, who is expected to retire from Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. next summer. 3M spokesman Chris Welsh said the report was "just a rumor" and would not comment on it.

ATLANTA — Many American companies that had adopted a much-vaunted employee evaluation system have lately been turning away from it. Known as "stacked ranking" or "forced ranking," the process made famous by General Electric Co. is really just a version of what teachers call grading on the curve: a few people at the top, a few at the bottom and the rest clumped in the middle. The practice leaped into the spotlight — at least for people who study how companies perform — when Vanity Fair published in its August issue a profile of technology icon Microsoft Corp.

So different in some ways, so much alike in others. Jeffrey R. Immelt, the General Electric Co. manager chosen to succeed the venerated John F. "Jack" Welch Jr. as GE's chief executive next year, is a tall, loping man with an easy manner and warm style, whereas Welch is known for his tough, exacting and aggressive approach to management. But there is no question what they have in common: an indisputable desire to lead and improve a company's fortunes, often through radical change.

Talks between Turner Broadcasting System and General Electric regarding a possible merger have ended because the two sides couldn't agree on who would control the proposed company, according to executives at both companies. The talks ended after top-level meetings on Friday in Atlanta, where Turner is headquartered. The meetings involved GE chairman Jack Welch, NBC President Robert Wright and Ted Turner, chairman of TBS.

SATURDAY Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC McLaughlin Group (N) 6:30 p.m. KCET The Chris Matthews Show Mitt Romney's popularity; Obama's 2012 campaign tactics: Chuck Todd, NBC; Kelly O'Donnell, NBC; David Ignatuis; Gloria Borger, CNN. (N) 5:30 a.m. KNBC SUNDAY Today (N) 6 a.m. KNBC Good Morning America (N) 6 a.m. KABC State of the Union With Candy Crowley Death of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi; 2012 campaign; the economy: Vice President Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON -- The number of people filing new jobless claims plunged last week to a 4 1/2-year low. Analysts said the report Thursday probably overstates what appears to be a moderately improving job market. And coming just days after officials reported that the unemployment rate fell in September to a post-recession low, some critics of Obama administration policies may again see political interference in the new data. Thursday's report showed that there were 339,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended last Saturday.