Mark Lazarus: Last News

NBCUniversal Media Group has promoted veteran executive David Pietrycha to the newly created position of Chief Business Officer, reporting into the group’s chairman, Mark Lazarus. 

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Can NBC squeeze ten years’ worth of Jimmy Fallon at its signature “Tonight Show” into just two hours? The network is going to try. NBC plans to celebrate a decade of Fallon at the helm of its venerable late-night program with a two-hour anniversary show slated for 9 p.m.

Jeff Shell, whose tenure running NBCUniversal came to an abrupt end last spring, is in advanced talks to join private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taking a positive look at visual impairment, rather than focusing on it as a disability, “Coyote Ugly” star Adam Garcia joins producer and actor Tsu Shan Chambers in the lead roles of “My Eyes,” a drama film now shooting in Melbourne, Australia. When optometrist Alana discovers her daughter has a rare inherited eye disease, she must look into her past to realize her vision for the future. She discovers that a judo athlete with a visual impairment halfway across the world may hold the answers she seeks.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rick Cordella is taking the field for NBC Sports. The executive, who has been enmeshed in developing streaming products for NBCUniversal, has been named president of NBC Sports at a moment when many media companies are working on new models that will make big-ticket TV sports properties available to consumers who have fewer ties to traditional screens.

NBCUniversal has promoted veteran executive Rick Cordella to president of NBC Sports, reporting into Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. 

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Entertainment executive Liz Jenkins has been named to the newly created role of chief business officer for the NBCUniversal Studio Group. The former COO of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine joins the company with an expansive title to oversee strategy and business operations, reporting to studio chairman and NBCU Chief Content Officer Donna Langley. “Liz has established herself as an industry leader with a deep understanding of the complexities of our business, and her unique perspective and varied experience fuel her drive for innovation,” Langley said of the hire.

Mark Marshall, a nearly 10-year veteran of NBCUniversal, has been promoted to Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Mark Marshall, the executive who led NBCUniversal’s ad-sales outreach on an interim basis, will take the role officially. Marshall, who was given oversight of NBCU’s ad-sales after former leader Linda Yaccarino departed abruptly to take the CEO role at X, the social-media company previously known as Twitter, will report to Mark Lazarus, chairman of the company’s media operations.

EXCLUSIVE: Susan Rovner has praised her colleagues and acknowledged the tough decision to leave after NBCUniversal’s latest restructure was unveiled.

David Zaslav should be sending a fruit basket right about now to Comcast President Mike Cavanagh.

Anyone looking for a sign of Comcast President Mike Cavanagh’s strategy as the recently installed overseer of NBCUniversal got a bright one Thursday.

NBCUniversal is going through another restructure.

Donna Langley is set to take control of content and creative ops across NBCUniversal’s portfolio of brands, as TV chief Susan Rovner exits the company. The shakeup in leadership is the first major restructuring move made by Mike Cavanagh since he took over ousted Jeff Shell’s position atop the Comcast-owned media company. In a memo to staff Thursday, Cavanagh announced NBCUniversal will be reorganized into four key units: NBCUniversal Studio Group, led by Langley, NBCUniversal Media Group, run by chairman of TV and streaming Mark Lazarus, NBCU News Group, run by existing news boss Cesar Conde, and the Universal Destinations and Experiences Group headed up by parks boss Mark Woodbury.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large From the moment an animated “Ted” opened the NBCUniversal upfront, voiced by Seth MacFarlane prior to the writers strike, it was clear this was going to be an abbreviated event. For starters, until a week ago, this was still going to be Linda Yaccarino’s Radio City Music Hall show. But with Yaccarino off running Twitter (“Ted” making a crack about the crazies now at Twitter earned the biggest inadvertent laugh of the morning), it was up to Mark Marshall, NBCU interim chairman, global advertising & partnerships, to make the pitch to advertisers. “In all of our conversations leading up today, regardless of client or category, there has been one constant…this is going to be a very important year for your businesses,” Marshall said, counting 32 pharma launches, 60 auto releases (including 46 electric vehicles) and over 100 movie releases (“which puts us back to pre-pandemic levels”) this year. “We know this is a competitive year. And here at NBCUniversal, we are built for these moments.”

The upfronts may be an annual ritual steeped in TV and streaming advertising, but NBCUniversal gave film more than a fleeting moment in the spotlight during its pitch to media buyers Monday morning.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “I don’t know but I’ve been told, NBC has a heart that’s cold,” Writers Guild of America pickets shouted outside Radio City Music Hall Monday, making some noise about the writers strike in front of NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation to advertisers. Approximately 200 pickets, some members of SAG-AFTRA joining the WGA in solidarity, used other chants personalized for the occasion, including, “NBC, you’re no good, pay your writers like you should,” to try to get the attention of those in attendance at the event, which is used to launch NBC’s fall schedule and woo advertisers into spending their dollars on spots with NBCU brands. The WGA is on Day 14 of a strike after failing to ink a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) before the clock ran out May 1.

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.

The NBCUniversal Upfront kicked off a week of events in New York amid a writers strike.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal shook up its ad-sales executive suite with just days to go before the company is slated to present its next slate of programing to advertisers. Linda Yaccarino, the company’s longtime chairman of advertising and partnerships, is leaving the company.

Will Gonzalez has been promoted to EVP & Chief Data Officer at NBCUniversal, where his role will expand to now oversee the research and decision sciences teams across television and streaming.