Linda Yaccarino’s 11th-Hour Jump To Twitter Gets Shoutout At Start Of NBCUniversal Upfront From TV And Streaming Boss Mark Lazarus: “We Want To Thank Her And Wish Her Well”
15.05.2023 - 15:09
/ deadline.com
Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, wasn’t on the production call sheet until very recently for the company’s upfront at Radio City on Monday morning.
Pressed into action after the stunning, consecutive exits over the past few weeks of CEO Jeff Shell and ad sales and partnerships chief Linda Yaccarino, who left to become CEO of Twitter just last week, Lazarun opened with self-effacting humor. Following a song-and-dance sequence featuring Ted, Seth Macfarlane’s bawdy, talking teddy bear, Lazarus asked the crowd, “What was more surprising today? Being welcomed by a foul-mouthed teddy bear or seeing me here onstage?”
He continued, “In all seriousness, Linda and I worked together for many, many years here at NBC.” He expressed gratitude “for her many contributions and for building an excellent team here. We want to thank her and wish her well.”
After Yaccarino’s surprise departure on the eve of the upfront, Mark Marshall was named Yaccarino’s interim replacement, reporting to Lazarus, chairman of NBCU Television and Streaming. (Yaccarino had reported directly to CEO Jeff Shell and then, upon Shell’s exit last month, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh.
Marshall and Yaccarino had worked together at Turner Broadcasting (as did Lazarus) before both of them arrived at NBCU in the early 2010s. After rising through the ranks, Marshall was named president of ad sales and partnerships in 2018. A fellow senior exec, Laura Molen, was another key deputy to Yaccarino but left the company earlier this year amid a broader streamlining of the ad sales staff.
Peter White contributed to this report.
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