Last Wednesday, Post biz reporter Peter Lauria let fly a hollow-point bullet through the temple of Beth Comstock, NBC Uni's integrated media chief. Even though "she is still considered a fast-rising star among General Electric and NBC brass," Lauria reported staffers are losing confidence in her and, according to a source, "people are beginning to question why she has been given so much responsibility relative to her performance."

More than a few industry onlookers agreed Lauria's item was delivered on a silver spoon from NBC chief Jeff Zucker, who's leading the battle against Comstock, letting her take the blame for iVillage Live, the disaster of a TV show spin-off of iVillage.com, the women's website that's been faring somewhere between "alright" and "eh." (To be fair, Lauria did deliver an iota of hope: "NBC still appears to be behind iVillage and Comstock, whose other credit is playing a key role in the creation of the online video joint venture between NBC and News Corp.")

Today, however, the fun is just getting started.

In this morning's Post, Lauria is back on the iVillage beat, with news that the website's COO Ezra Kucharz is leaving next week for an online gaming outfit.

Kucharz came on board thanks to Comstock but, after growing "frustrated with the lack of support from other NBCU divisions in iVillage's integration," he "felt marginalized under iVillage CEO Deborah Fine, who Comstock recruited from Victoria's Secret to run the Web community."

Notes a NBC insider who briefly worked with Comstock: "It's not surprising that Zucker would let someone else take the fall for a failing venture, but Lauria's item [about Comstock] has all the signs of a 'hit job.' On the surface, it looks like Zucker is trying to get rid of her, which would be a stupid move. … She's the right girl for the job. But her [foundation] is crumbling."

In the meantime, we hear Comstock is picking up an award from Advertising Women of New York on Wednesday, where she'll share the stage with fellow recipient Atoosa Rubenstein. Can't wait for the Web 2.0 gabfest between those two!