Yahoo News Comcast President Mike Cavanagh Makes His Mark As NBCUniversal Chief With Exec Reorg, Donna Langley’s Dual Film-TV Role
Anyone looking for a sign of Comcast president Mike Cavanagh’s strategy as the recently installed overseer of NBCUniversal got a bright one Thursday.
The seasoned finance exec unveiled a significant revamp of the company’s senior management ranks today. Donna Langley, Mark Lazarus and Cesar Conde headed the list of those gaining promotions, while Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content for NBCU television and streaming, was a high-profile exec to exit the company.
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One notable aspect of the new org chart is Langley’s new dual role overseeing both film and TV. At companies of comparable scale to NBCU, the film and TV realms are still generally run separately even though the line between them gets blurrier every day. Amazon, Apple and Netflix have all made moves to unify the management at the very top of the food chain, but traditional media firms still have separate silos. In a staff memo, Cavanagh said Langley will “leverage her longstanding relationships with the creative community and ability to partner with the most prolific storytellers in our business to unlock a seamless cross-portfolio creative strategy including programming, distribution and marketing across film, television and streaming.”
The company is creating the NBCUniversal Studio Group, which Langley will lead, while Lazarus will operate the Media Group and Conde will sit atop an expanded News Group. The last of four direct reports to Cavanagh will be Mark Woodbury, who will oversee the Universal Destinations & Experiences Group.
Before offering details about the exec revamp, Cavanagh’s memo reinforced what had already become clear in the two-plus months since he took over for ousted NBCU CEO Jeff Shell. “I will continue to lead NBCU as President of Comcast and will not name a new CEO,” Cavanagh wrote, affirming his earlier outlook in the immediate aftermath of Shell’s exit that he would stay at the helm “for a while.”
A refresher on Cavanagh, for those who still haven’t read the coverage: Last year, the well-regarded exec became the only person not named Roberts (i.e., CEO Brian or his late father, Ralph, who founded Comcast) to be given the title of president at the company. He had initially come aboard in 2015 as chief financial officer, playing a key advisory role as Comcast mounted M&A offensives for the bulk of 21st Century Fox (assets that sold to Disney after a bidding war) and then Sky. Plenty of smaller transactions followed, not to mention the crucible of Covid, which required feats of financial dexterity for media companies to keep the lights on with sports, production and travel all thrown into chaos.
Wall Streeters have ample esteem for Cavanagh, who is seen as a steady and strategic lieutenant. Crucially, at a time when media companies are collectively trying to trim billions in costs from their operations, Cavanagh is steeped in the financials of NBCU and that knowledge informed the exec overhaul. Eliminating Rovner’s position (not to mention not replacing Shell) creates more room to maneuver, especially when media companies are navigating the whipsaw effects of the streaming boom and the steady decline of pay-TV.
Comcast shares ended Thursday trading down a fraction at $41.21, but the session proved trying for most stocks due to a less-than-scintillating jobs report. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter financial results July 27 and Cavanagh will offer his view of the business, including the new-look NBCU exec roster.
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