NBC has promoted Jenny Groom, Lesley Cerwin and Shelby Shaftel amid the network’s ongoing Alternative department restructuring.
Groom was previously a senior vice president of the Alternative Programming and Development group, but she’ll now oversee the department. Shaftel (pictured above, right) has been promoted to vice president of the same division; Cerwin (left) is being brought over from the Publicity department to the Programming side. Both will report to Groom (middle); she’ll report to NBC Entertainment’s Alternative and Reality Group president Paul Telegdy.
As TheWrap exclusively reported on Thursday, former talent wrangler and executive Chuck Labella was let go last week as part of the same shakeup.
“Jenny Groom has emerged as the natural leader for the NBC alternative programming team. Her creativity and understanding of NBC’s audience have been honed over a 14-year career, starting as a page and have included time spent with NBC’s drama department and Universal Television,” Telegdy said. “She has been a huge part of the success we have enjoyed at NBC, having headed up development for nearly five years and now adds the management of the wider department to her duties.”
“Lesley Cerwin joins us after eight years leading the alternative communications team and has been a trusted and integral part of our success on both the network side and in launching our new studio,” he continued. “Lesley, who combines her vast experience and passion for alternative programming with strategic expertise, will take responsibility for maximizing the franchise value of our current portfolio.”
“Shelby Shaftel has been integral to the success of ‘The Voice’ since Day 1,” Telegdy concluded. “We look forward to Shelby applying the best practices of that massive hit to our wider development and portfolio.”
In Groom’s new role she will have oversight of the existing alternative slate, including “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Little Big Shots,” as well as creative oversight of upcoming projects, including “World of Dance,” “Ellen’s Game of Games” and “Little Big Shots: Forever Young.”
Previously, Groom oversaw development for the network. She helped develop and launch “Little Big Shots,” “Better Late Than Never,” and “The Wall.”
In her new role as senior vice president, Current Programming, Cerwin will have oversight of all current alternative programming. She will be responsible for maximizing the current programming slate from not only a creative perspective, but also from the standpoint of marketing, sales, digital, social and publicity.
Cerwin was recruited from her previous position of senior vice president in entertainment publicity where she handled press for Telegdy and Meredith Ahr, president of Universal Television Alternative Studio. From there, she oversaw all alternative programming press campaigns. Cerwin is a veteran of NBC for 12 years and previously worked at Fox, The WB and Universal Television.
As vice president in Alternative Programming and Development, Shaftel will take on more development and continue to have oversight of “The Voice,” which she has worked on since the network premiered the show in 2011. In addition, she is currently overseeing the upcoming Ellen DeGeneres-produced dating show “First Dates,” as well as “The Wall” and “Better Late Than Never.”