Jeff Shell’s Shocking NBCUniversal Exit Creates Uncertainties for Comcast’s Streaming Wars
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After steering NBCUniversal through a global pandemic and a roiling stock market, Jeff Shell in January thought he had some good news for investors: Better times were just around the corner. “I’m pretty confident that we have a lot of growth ahead in NBCUniversal,” he told Wall Street analysts during a recent conference call.
He called for new activity at the company’s amusement parks after a long fallow period caused by the COVID pandemic, as well as a boost to paying subscribers at the company’s Peacock streaming hub.
Now a different executive will be charged with finding out whether Shell’s projections will come to pass. Comcast, NBCU’s corporate parent, stunned Wall Street and the entertainment industry Sunday afternoon by announcing that Shell, a media-industry veteran who took NBCU’s reins from previous CEO Steve Burke in 2020, was leaving the company immediately after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with an employee.
Its the latest in-house imbroglio for NBCU, which has grappled with the ousting of “Today” anchor Matt Lauer and former Universal honcho Ron Meyer under similar circumstances.
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