Susan Rovner Reveals Executive Team
Two months after being the top programming job at NBCUniversal, Susan Rovner is making herself felt in the company as she reveals the executive team she will have in place to make her plans for NBCUniversal come true.
The Hollywood Reporter says that the programming leaders Rovner has put in place include Jen Neal, Tracie Wilson, Katie Hockmeyer, Jenny Groom, Rod Aissa, and Lisa Katz. The team will be managing the content of Universal Kids, E!, Bravo, Oxygen, USA Network, SyFy, NBC, and Peacock.
According to the publication, the assignments of the team are as follows: Specials and live events will be run by Neal, syndication will be run by Wilson, the late-night will be the domain of Hockmeyer, unscripted will be managed by Aissa and Groom, while scripted will be overseen by Katz.
Variety has a copy of the memo where Rovner revealed her plans, as well as explain why she chose to take the job. According to her, she was drawn by the “compelling” vision of Jeff Shell and Mark Lazarus, the NBCUniversal CEO and NBCUniversal chairman for television and streaming, respectively.
Rovner also says that she is confident that the leadership and team she is working with would be able to successfully turn the media company into a “home for both storytellers and audiences.”
She also praised the team she has introduced as having an overwhelming amount of creativity, expertise, and experience. She also promised that she and her team would be providing audiences with great television.
The shake-up that Rovner is bringing to NBCUniversal is probably the same shake-up that her departure from WarnerMedia caused. Before taking the NBCUniversal job, Rovner was in line to become the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Studios.
Rovner was only with Warner Bros. Television for a year when she began exit conversations with the company. Before she left, she was handling more than 60 original series for the company, with a majority of them for the company’s cable channels.
Aside from Rovner and her new executive team, another executive named to a top position at NBCUniversal is Pearlena Igbokwe. Igbokwe was named as the television content chief for NBCUniversal, putting her in charge of Universal Television, Universal Cable Productions, and NBCUniversal International Studios.
Bonnie Hammer, a 40 veteran at NBCUniversal, was also promoted to vice-chairman of NBCUniversal. Hammer was behind the creation of Peacock, the streaming platform of NBCUniversal.
Before taking on her new role, Hammer led NBCUniversal’s cable channels -- the USA Network, Universal Kids, SyFy, E! Entertainment, Bravo, and Oxygen -- to high profits and a record number of viewership.