Mark Lazarus will assume oversight of all of NBCUniversal’s entertainment TV operations as part of a massive company-wide restructuring.
Lazarus is now in charge of Peacock, NBCU’s streaming service that became available to Comcast subscribers last month. Matt Strauss will continue to lead the day-to-day operations as general manager. Lazarus, who has run NBC’s sports operations since 2011, maintains his oversight of NBC Sports and the company’s stations and cable businesses, while adding broadcast and cable production operations.
The sweeping changes mark the first major moves under newly-installed NBCU CEO Jeff Shell, who took over in January. During Comcast’s earnings call last week, Shell hinted that potential changes would be coming, describing the company as not being “right sized” for the current environment, given economic havoc brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
A rep for NBCUniversal did not immediately respond when asked by TheWrap if this would result in layoffs.
“This is the right structure to lead NBCUniversal into the future during this transformational time in the industry,” Jeff Shell, CEO, NBCUniversal said. “Mark has a proven track record across every aspect of our television business from sports to local stations to entertainment. He is the ideal leader to oversee our television and streaming portfolio in this newly formed division, which allows us to have a more unified approach to our content strategy.”
Under the new structure, the following executives will lead businesses reporting to Lazarus:
- Frances Berwick, President, Lifestyle Networks
- Ken Bettsteller, President, International Networks
- Peter Bevacqua, President, NBC Sports Group
- Philip Martzolf, President, NBCUniversal Affiliate Relations
- Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks
- Valari Staab, President, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations
- Matt Strauss, Chairman of Peacock
- Paul Telegdy, Chairman, NBC Entertainment
Telemundo’s Cesar Conde will now oversee a newly created news group, which will also see NBC News chairman Andy Lack leave the company at the end of the month. NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, MSNBC president Phil Griffin and CNBC chairman Mark Hoffman will now report to Conde, who takes the title of NBCUniversal News Group chairman.
“Cesar is a well-respected, strategic leader who has succeeded in multiple roles at NBCUniversal since joining the company in 2013,” Shell added. “Most recently, Cesar has overseen unprecedented growth at Telemundo, which under his leadership has become the number one Spanish-language network, and through its news division has played a critical role in the expansion of news operations, breaking news coverage and trailblazing political reporting. Cesar’s valuable and relevant experience leading broadcast networks and news divisions, combined with his high degree of integrity and proven management skills, make him the right person to lead our news group into the future.”