Major shake up at NBCUniversal with latest reorganization
In a dramatic reorganization at NBCUniversal, respected programmer Bonnie Hammer has been promoted to lead the company’s entire cable entertainment portfolio -- the most lucrative division, which generates approximately 50% of the media giant’s operating cash flow.
Hammer will be in charge of all entertainment cable television channels, including USA, Syfy, Bravo, E!, Style,Oxygen and the children’s channel Sprout. The management change becomes the third major organizational overhaul in two years in which NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke has sought to establish a more streamlined structure in a once-Balkanized company.
“Assembling our cable entertainment assets together in one group under Bonnie Hammer’s oversight is a logical and important step,” Burke said in an email to employees on Monday to announce the changes.
Burke, in an interview, said he has been impressed with Hammer in the two years they have worked together. Her fan base includes many of her lieutenants -- known inside the company as “Team Bonnie.”
“For a creative executive, Bonnie is as together and organized as anyone I have ever met,” Burke said. “She’s the whole package.”
-- Meg James, Los Angeles Times