Turmoil in Kabletown: Jeff Shell’s Hasty Exit Spurs Questions About NBCU’s Long-Term Future Within Comcast

The CEO of NBCUniversal parent Comcast said it’s “more likely than not” the company will end up selling its third of Hulu to Disney, after his Mouse counterpart indicated clearly last week that this would be Disney’s preferred outcome. There’s been some grandstanding over the past year as the deadline approaches, but both of Hulu’s parents appear to be on or near the same page now.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts addressed the company potentially selling its 33% stake in the streamer. “I think it’s more likely than not,” Roberts said. “I’m pretty certain if and when we sell our Hulu stake, it’ll be for more than what we have, and in fact, that’s contractually certain.”Disney currently owns 67% of Hulu with with Comcast’s NBCUniversal holding a minority stake.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor On May 12, Variety partnered with Reddit’s Television subreddit to host an Ask Me Anything discussion about the ongoing writers strike. Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton — who has covered the television industry for 25 years and wrote the book “TV on Strike: Why Hollywood Went to War Over the Internet” about the 2007 strike — fielded many smart questions from Redditors, touching on topics like AI, who gets paid during the strike, and how long it could last. Below are key selections from the discussion, lightly-edited for clarity.

exited the company after more than a decade on Friday to serve as the new chief executive officer of Twitter. “So what was more surprising today, being welcomed by a foul mouthed teddy bear or seeing me up here on stage?,” Lazarus told an audience of advertisers during the company’s Upfront presentation on Monday, referencing a raunchy musical opening from Seth MacFarlane’s Ted.

Twitter has a new CEO.

Wall Street Journal report that she is in talks to become Twitter’s new chief executive officer. “It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team,” she said in a statement. “We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry—and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh and the entire NBCU leadership team.”Since joining NBCU in 2011, Yaccarino’s team has generated more than $100 billion in ad sales, expanded the company’s reach globablly, helped launch Peacock, and made massive investments in data and technology capabilities.

In a potentially seismic change on the eve of the broadcast upfronts, word emerged Thursday evening that NBCUniversal sales chief Linda Yaccarino is reportedly in discussions to become Twitter’s new CEO.

Hadley Gamble, whose complaints led to the firing of ex-NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell late last month, is leaving CNBC, the network said today.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Hadley Gamble, a CNBC reporter who ended up as part of the headlines involving the business-news outlet’s corporate parent and the ouster of its most recent CEO, is departing the company herself. “CNBC today announced that Hadley Gamble, Anchor and Senior International Correspondent, is leaving the company,” the network said in a statement. “Gamble has been a distinguished journalist for more than a decade for CNBC, undertaking highly visible and challenging assignments, and developing deep expertise in the Middle East and beyond. Her initiative and drive have secured valuable interviews with several world political leaders. We wish her every success in her future endeavors.”

Two-thirds of Peacock’s 22 million subscribers have watched a recent Universal theatrical film, the NBCUniversal streaming service announced at its NewFronts presentation Tuesday.

complaint filed by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble alleging sexual harassment, earned a total compensation package in 2022 that reached $21.01 million, compared with $21.6 million in 2021 and $16.5 million in 2020. The 2022 package included a $2.5 million base salary, $6.61 million in stock awards, $4.19 million in option awards, $7.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, which represent annual performance-based bonuses, and $215,130 in “other compensation,” including $202,755 for Shell’s personal use of the company-provided aircraft.“As previously disclosed, Mr.

Jeff Shell, the ousted CEO of NBCUniversal, forfeited compensation valued at $43 million for 2022 after being fired for cause last Sunday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Shell, the former chief executive of NBCUniversal, forfeited stock grants and options worth $43.3 million after he was fired for cause earlier this week, according to a Comcast regulatory filing. Shell was terminated as CEO of NBCU over the past weekend after an internal investigation into his relationship with Hadley Gamble, an international correspondent for CNBC. “As previously disclosed, Mr. Shell’s employment was terminated with cause on April 23, 2023. As a result, he did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination,” Comcast said in its 2023 proxy statement. “He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement.”

just 48% of U.S. adults had a monthly cable or satellite subscription, while a slim majority had signed on for streaming services.Indeed, Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, also reported that its streaming service Peacock picked up 2 million net new subscribers in the quarter.As a result of the decline in cable subscribers, Comcast saw revenue from video fall 8% year-over-year to $7.38 billion in the first quarter, down from $8 billion last year.Put another way, cable TV revenue in the first quarter was not quite 25% of Comcast’s total revenue of $29.69 billion.At the same time, both broadband and wireless customers in the U.S.

Newly interim NBCUniversal boss Mike Cavanagh has spoken out on the Jeff Shell shocker for the first time and said he’ll be in the post overseeing the entertainment unit “for a while.”

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Producers of “The Garcias” have re-acquired the rights to the family comedy series from HBO Max and are shopping the show to other buyers. HBO Max canceled the series after Season 1 aired last year. New Cadence Prods. has reclaimed the streaming and international rights to the 10 episodes and is seeking a new home for the show that revolves around a large, multicultural and multigenerational Latino family. HBO Max still had nine years left on its license for Season 1 of “The Garcias” after dropping the series. New Cadence, headed by “The Garcias” co-creator/showrunner Jeff Valdez and investor Sol Trujillo, struck a deal with HBO Max that gives them the ability to produce new episodes of the series and sell the existing episodes to a rival outlet. New Cadence’s deal with HBO Max already was structured so as to ensure that the company retained long-term ownership of “The Garcias” outright.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call by acknowledging the abrupt dismissal of NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell last Sunday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comcast said it managed to boost profit during its fiscal first quarter even as it navigated a dip in media advertising and slowing growth among broadband subscribers, yet boosted U.S. subscribers to its Peacock streaming hub to 22 million. The Philadelphia owner of NBCUniversal, Sky and its large broadband and cable business said profit came to $3.83 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared with $3.55 billion, or 78 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Comcast reported earnings per share of 92 cents after adjusting for one-time items Revenue fell 4% to $29.69 billion, compared with $31.01 billion in the year-earlier period, thanks to comparisons with a quarter in 2022 that contained both the broadcast of the Super Bowl and the Beijing Olympics.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Top Comcast execs made their first public comments on the departure of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Thursday, remarks that came as the company reported its Q1 earnings results. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts opened a call with investors by saying Shell’s exit due to “inappropriate relationship” with a subordinate was “obviously a tough moment” adding, “we are so fortunate to have a fabulous and tenured leadership team at NBCUniversal.” “When you go down the list, you’ll see many of them have been leading their divisions within the company for at least 10 years and are the best in the business,” Roberts said. “We are also lucky to have Mike Cavanagh stepped in to help NBCUniversal while also remaining president.”