Today it was announced that NBCUniversal’s CEO is out, effective immediately, according to a report from CNBC. It is being reported that the reason he is leaving is because of an investigation into inappropriate relationships within the company.
“Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal,” Shell said in a statement. “I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret. I’m truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down, they are the most talented people in the business and the opportunity to work with them the last 19 years has been a privilege.”
This comes as NBCUniversal’s streaming efforts have been struggling and are undergoing a massive shift this year. Comcast is reportedly expecting to lose about $3 billion on Peacock.
Recently Comcast’s CFO Jason Armstrong said the changes Peacock is going through are costly. “It’s a costly pivot, and we’re right in the middle right now,” said Armstrong at the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference last week.
Recently Comcast shut down its free version of Peacock to non-Xfinity customers. Later this summer if you have been getting Peacock free from Xfinity, you will need to start paying as this option is going away.
It seems Comcast is trying to find ways to get customers to start paying Peacock. Too many of the users right now are getting it for free as Peacock only has about 20 million paying customers.
Paramount+ reportedly ended 2022 with 77 million subscribers, and Disney+ reportedly has about 152.1 million worldwide.
There is no word yet on who will replace Mr. Shell as NBC moves forward with its plans to address cord cutting. As we learn more, we will post a full update.
Update: NBC has announced that NBCUniversal’s leadership team will report to Comcast President Mike Cavanagh at this time.