The reductions were expected after the conglomerate merged its Peacock development teams and linear networks.
The other shoe fell on NBCUniversal.
The expected layoffs in Susan Rovner’s Entertainment Content Division have begun. Sources say 50 employees on Rovner’s newly consolidated team were fired on Tuesday. The combined programming team was the hardest hit with Tuesday’s layoffs. Other divisions, including programming and acquisitions, were also impacted.
The changes come after Rovner’s senior leaders, scripted, unscripted and late at night, solidify their respective teams. Cara Dellaverson and Alex Sepiol (who directed the drama for Peacock under former chief of the original Bill McGoldrick) will co-lead the drama and current development under the leadership of the screenplay Lisa Katz. Jeff Meyerson will oversee the current affairs and development of the comedy, with Michael Sluchan overseeing children’s programming and co-productions, both reporting to Katz. Jenny Groom’s improvised competition / game show unit will include Sharon Vuong overseeing development and current leader Shelby Shaftel. Rod Aissa’s lifestyle and docuseries group will see Rachel Smith direct the development and Shari Levine oversee the current.
Most of those affected on Tuesday came from jobs that were cut when NBCUniversal brought together the business and content teams from one network to the next, grouping into a unified group. This means that executives who previously oversaw the NBC script are also covering Peacock and all of the company’s cable brands.
Tuesday’s layoffs reflect similar staff cuts in November that were part of Frances Berwick’s business division. Both rounds of layoffs are the direct result of NBCU’s decision to consolidate its entertainment content and business divisions under Rovner and Berwick, respectively. The massive reorganization of NBCUniversal’s TV and Streaming division, overseen by NBCUni CEO Jeff Shell, and TV and streaming president Mark Lazarus, consolidated the entire TV and streaming space team into two units overseen by Berwick and Rovner . Berwick oversees the entertainment business strategy, which covers marketing, research, acquisitions, finance and advertising. Rovner is responsible for all entertainment content, which includes scheduled, unscheduled, live, late night and distribution events.
The Berwick and Rovner teams each oversee the responsibilities of a consolidated portfolio, that is, an executive working on reality programming at E !, for example, will now do so for NBC, streamer Peacock, Bravo, Oxygen, Syfy and USA Network.
Berwick, the former head of Lifestyle Networks, was promoted on August 6 as part of a major restructuring of NBCU. She announced her leadership team on September 16, with layoffs in November affecting layoffs in areas under her supervision, including marketing, public relations and so on. Sources note that any open positions will not be filled, which helped to reduce bloodshed.
Rovner, for his part, started at NBCUni in October. Since then, she has met with executives from her portfolio. She unveiled her leadership team in November, choosing to promote within the company while assembling a team to oversee scripted, non-scripted and other programming areas for Peacock, NBC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, E! and Universal Kids.
Tuesday’s layoffs were triggered after division leaders under Rovner have already solidified their respective teams. The reductions were aimed at redundancies in merged departments that were eliminated in favor of centralized content teams.
NBCUniversal saw the departure of several high-profile executives following last year’s reorganization. NBC entertainment board chairman Paul Telegdy and his makeshift chief executive, Meredith Ahr, were pushed out after an investigation into the company found that they fostered a toxic culture, the claims of which were first detailed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Beloved US and Syfy President Chris McCumber left in September as a result of the restructuring that eliminated the need for individual network leaders. The respected head of programming for Peacock, USA and Syfy, Bill McGoldrick, left this week after being passed over for the role that ended up being for Rovner. Former NBC chief marketing officer Len Fogge also left the company after more than a decade at the company, after his role was absorbed by NBC Sports Group CMO Jennifer Storms.
The layoffs under Berwick’s team are the latest in a wave of cuts at NBCU. The company’s theme park unit, sports division and Telemundo suffered layoffs earlier this year as a result of the company’s economic crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic, which caused huge profits in the entertainment industry, led most large conglomerates to restructure. NBCUniversal, Disney and WarnerMedia revamped their executive boards in an attempt to better position themselves for the streaming era, as well as cut costs by consolidating resources and eliminating staff redundancies. All three media titans have had several rounds of layoffs, with more on the way, as Disney has only recently begun its reorganization.