Comcast profit jumps 30%, with mixed results at NBCUniversal

Comcast Corp.'s earnings jumped nearly 30% in its first quarter as more customers signed up for high-speed Internet service.  But the cable Goliath also showed strength in some an unexpected quarters: the long-lagging NBC broadcast unit and Universal Pictures, which released two hit movies, including "The Lorax."

For the quarter ended March 31, the Philadelphia-based company said its net income grew to $1.22 billion, or 45 cents per share, from $943 million, or 34 cents per share, from the year-earlier period.

Comcast generated consolidated revenue of $14.88 billion -- an increase of 23%.

"I'm really pleased with our start in 2012," Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in a Wednesday  morning conference call with analysts.  "Cable had another outstanding quarter.... We are starting to make some progress in broadcast."

NBCUniversal revenue was up 18% to $5.5 billion, in large part because the NBC broadcast network raked in $259 million in Super Bowl advertising revenue. (Excluding the Super Bowl, revenue at NBCUniversal was up 12.4%).

Roberts reminded analysts that NBCUniversal results would be volatile because of the hit-and-miss nature of movie box office and higher television programming costs. Comcast has been spending more on programming to try to lift the peacock network to profitability.

Operating cash flow at NBCUniversal was up 34.3% to $813 million compared to the first quarter of 2011.  In terms of revenue, NBCUniversal cable networks generated $2.1 billion in revenue versus $2 billion in the year-earlier period.  The NBC broadcast unit pulled in $1.85 billion in revenue (including the Super Bowl) compared to $1.35 billion in the year-earlier period. Film entertainment revenue swelled to $1.19 billion from $975 million in 2011. Theme parks generated $412 million, up from $390 million.

However, the company's operating cash flow margins were lower at cable networks due to higher programming and production costs, including those for NBA basketball. The broadcast unit posted an operating cash flow loss of $10 million, reflecting higher programming costs and higher marketing expenses to support the launch of mid-season shows, including "Smash."

"We're starting to make some progress but there is a long way to go," NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke told analysts. "And in film, we have a much stronger slate this year." Among Universal's upcoming film titles are the big budget action film "Battleship," the dark fairy tale "Snow White and the Huntsman," and a new iteration of the successful "Bourne" series.

Comcast is the nation's largest cable television and high-speed Internet provider. It holds a 51% controlling interest in NBCUniversal. 

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-- Meg James

Photo: Comcast Cable company trucks in Southern California / Credit:  Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times.

Top Comcast executives take a pay cut in 2011

Comcast Corp.’s highest-paid executives — Chief Executive Brian Roberts and NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke — experienced compensation deflation last year.

Roberts’ pay package shrank 13.3% in 2011 to $26.9 million. That included a performance-based cash bonus of $5.5 million for the 52-year-old executive.

Meanwhile, Burke’s compensation dropped a whopping 32% to $23.7 million, which included a performance bonus of $6.7 million. The 53-year-old executive’s amount fell dramatically in 2011 as it was the first time in three years that he did not collect a signing bonus.

Burke, who took over management of NBCUniversal last year when Comcast acquired controlling interest in the company, received bonuses of about $10 million in both 2009 and 2010 for extending his contract.

The compensation, disclosed Friday in a proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, put the managers of the Philadelphia-based cable and entertainment giant in the middle rungs of corporate pay across big media conglomerates.

By comparison, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves received a package valued at $69.9 million last year, Discovery Communications Chief Executive David Zaslav received $52.4 million; Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman captured $43 million, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger collected $31.4 million, and Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes got $25.9 million.

Three years ago, Comcast’s top executives agreed to a four-year freeze in their base salary. Roberts’ base salary was $2.8 million; Burke’s was $2.24 million.

The top Comcast executives could have received fatter packages last year. The company achieved substantial growth in revenue and free cash flow, but its top executives elected to bring their performance base bonus calculations more in line with how their underlings are paid — and the Comcast board's compensation committee agreed.

In its proxy, Comcast said its operating management’s “cash bonuses are based primarily on business unit operating metrics rather than consolidated financial performance.”

Chief Financial Officer Michael J. Angelakis last year received a total package of $21.9 million, which was a 4% decline from his 2010 compensation. In contrast, Executive Vice President David L. Cohen accepted more stock and other bonuses which boosted his take 19% to $15.1 million.

Comcast Cable Communications Chief Executive Neil Smit collected $18.5 million in 2011, including a $3-million cash performance bonus. This was the first time that Comcast was required to disclose Smit’s earnings. Smit joined Comcast two years ago but he did not become a top corporate officer until last year when he was named chief executive officer of Comcast Cable.

And Ralph J. Roberts, the 92-year-old co-founder of the cable company, collected his customary $1-a-year salary.

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— Meg James

Top photo: Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts in 2007. Credit: George Widman / Associated Press.  Bottom right: NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke in 2010. Credit: Nati Harnik / Associated Press.

NBC's 'The Voice' is strong but 'Smash' not living up to hype

NBC has found a voice -- but hasn't yet nailed its dance steps.

The broadcast network used its Super Bowl platform to successfully launch "The Voice," a remake of a Dutch singing competition starring Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

"The Voice" kicked off its second season immediately after the Feb. 5th game before moving to its regular Monday night time slot. This week, the show continued to belt out high notes attracting more than 16 million viewers -- approaching the audience of Fox's aspirational juggernaut "American Idol." 

"The Voice" was so strong that it muffled the ratings of CBS' Monday comedy block, which includes "Two and a Half Men." This month represented the first time in more than four years that NBC beat CBS in key ratings on a Monday night.

But NBC's highly anticipated drama "Smash" is proving less spectacular.

At the end of Comcast Corp.'s earnings call Wednesday, NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke conceded to his colleagues that while "The Voice" should remain strong, "Smash is more problematic." Burke apparently didn't realize that his microphone was still live.

The expensive, highly promoted program attracted 8 million viewers Monday night, a respectable turnout particularly for a network that has struggled this season to launch new shows. A pet project of NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt, the critically acclaimed series has produced some of the best ratings for NBC in the time period in nearly three years.

However, NBC made an enormous investment on "Smash" despite concerns that a show about the making of a Broadway musical, and the cut-throat competition of New York's theater world, might lack broad appeal among most Americans. 

The pilot cost more than $7 million and production of subsequent episodes runs about $4 million. The network has spent at least another $10 million to promote the series, which has an all-star producing team, including Steven Spielberg, Theresa Rebeck as well as Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the team behind "Hairspray" and "Chicago."

Late last week, NBCUniversal marshaled its firepower to bolster "Smash," headlined by Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and Megan Hilty. 

A number of the company's cable networks, including USA, Bravo and even video game culture channel G4 and the bilingual channel mun2, replayed the pilot of "Smash" in an effort to drum up new viewers. 

The company's so-called cable road block exposed the program to an additional 1 million viewers. But, the ratings for the second episode of "Smash" on NBC Monday night dropped 26% in key audience demographics compared with its Feb. 6 premiere. 

As troubling for NBC and Burke, the show steadily lost viewers throughout its hourlong telecast Monday night.

Comcast Corp. Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis warned Wall Street analysts Wednesday that managing programming costs would be one of the biggest challenges that Comcast faces this year. That is particularly true for Burke, who is charged with deciding how best to allocate the company's considerable programming budget. 

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-- Meg James   

Photo: The cast of NBC's "Smash." Credit:  NBC

 

 

Comcast fourth-quarter profit jumps 26%; NBC and film lag

Comcast Corp. beat analysts' estimates with a 26% increase in fourth-quarter profit, but two NBCUniversal units continued to struggle: the NBC broadcast network and Universal Pictures.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the Philadelphia cable television giant posted net income of $1.29 billion, or 47 cents a share, compared to $1.02 billion, or 36 cents per share, for the year-earlier period.  Revenue climbed 3% to $15 billion.

Once again, the company's core business of providing bundles of cable TV channels and high-speed Internet service bolstered its financial results. Comcast added 336,000 Internet customers during the quarter while losing 17,000 video subscribers, demonstrating that the cable company was doing a better job holding onto its customers than it did during the recession.

But NBCUniversal continued to be a mixed bag.

The New York media company, which Comcast co-owns with industrial giant General Electric Co., generated revenue of $5.7 billion -- an increase of less than 1% over the year-earlier period.  Operating cash flow declined 6.8% to $1.1 billion for the quarter. 

Cable television networks, including USA, Syfy, Bravo and MSNBC, increased revenue 5.3% to $2.2 billion.  Broadcast TV revenue declined 3.7% to $1.8 billion -- reflecting continued ratings problems at the NBC broadcast network. 

Filmed entertainment revenue dipped 1.8% to $1.3 billion, in part because of lower home entertainment sales. Theme parks revenue climbed 4% to $498 million.

Cable networks' operating cash flow increased 15.3% to $923 million, but NBC posted an $80-million loss. The broadcast unit produced $55 million in operating cash flow in the previous-year period. Operating cash flow at Universal Pictures dropped nearly 50% to $89 million.  

Comcast said its focus for the last year was integrating NBCUniversal operations, finding the right management team and stepping up investments in programming.

"As you look out over 2012 and 2013 we are going to start to, hopefully, see some of the seeds we planted bear fruit," NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke told analysts. "We've said the network is going to take us a number of years to turn around. We also think we can see some improvement in film; our film business has not been doing well but we have a very strong slate in 2012."

However, Michael Angelakis, Comcast's chief financial officer, warned analysts: "The real headwinds are programming costs."

One analyst suggested that Comcast's shiny new toy -- media company NBCUniversal and its peacock network -- could ultimately challenge the company's financials.

"Evolutionary biologists have cogently argued that the peacock's tail evolved, paradoxically, as a gigantic display of handicap," Bernstein Research senior analyst Craig Moffett wrote in a report.  "Only a very healthy specimen could survive carrying around such a burden."

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 -- Meg James

Photo:  Ashley, voiced by Taylor Swift, is a character in the upcoming Universal Pictures film: "Dr. Suess' The Lorax." Credit:  Universal Pictures

Comcast elevates cable systems chief Neil Smit

Comcast Corp. elevated Neil Smit to chief executive of the company's revenue engine: Comcast Cable Communications. The move recognizes the veteran executive's contributions during his short tenure with the Philadelphia cable giant.

Smit, a rising star who joined Comcast from Charter Communications Inc. in March 2010, is responsible for all aspects of the company's cable TV and high-speed Internet delivery systems. He previously had served as president of Comcast Cable. He continues to report to Comcast Corp. chief executive Brian L. Roberts. 

Smit's elevation to the newly created position puts him on equal footing with Steve Burke, Comcast's chief executive of NBCUniversal. 

Roberts hired Smit to replace Burke as head of cable systems when Comcast was preparing to merge its entertainment properties with NBCUniversal. Burke was put in charge of all of the entertainment channels.

“Neil has done a phenomenal job," Roberts said Wednesday in a prepared statement. "He has driven innovation, improved the customer experience, increased the speed of the introduction of new products, and has expanded our company into new opportunities for profitable growth."

Since Smit took over the cable division, Comcast has notched a 13% increase in new customers as measured during the most recent quarter. 

Comcast also has witnessed a dramatic increase in customers signing up for all three services -- television, high-speed Internet and telephone.  Now more than a third of all Comcast customers pay for "triple play" service, a particularly high-margin area for cable companies.

Comcast's high-speed Internet subscribers are up 5% year over year. The company's business services division revenue has increased nearly 40%. Those gains have helped offset losses in video subscribers.

Roberts has made the integration of new technologies a priority. To that end, Smit has overseen 16 new product launches in 2011 -- more than the last two years combined.

Smit served as Charter Communications CEO from 2005 to 2010. Before that, he was in charge of Time Warner’s America Online, CompuServe and Netscape Internet service. Before his civilian career, he served for 5 1/2 years on active duty with the Navy SEALs. He retired from the service in the 1980s as a lieutenant commander.

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-- Meg James

Photo: Comcast Cable Chief Executive Neil Smit. Credit: Paul Sirochman / Comcast Corp.

NBCUniversal's Burke names investment banker to top financial post

The purging of high-profile General Electric Co. executives from NBCUniversal is complete.

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke on Wednesday put the finishing touches on his senior management team by announcing that Stuart J. Epstein -- former managing director of Morgan Stanley and global head of the firm's media group -- would become chief financial officer for the entertainment giant in mid-October.

Epstein has been a strategic advisor to Comcast Corp. for several years, NBCUniversal said in a news release, adding that he played "a key role" in the merger finalized earlier this year between Comcast's entertainment properties and NBCUniversal. 

Epstein will take over for Lynn Calpeter, a trusted ally of General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Calpeter, who got her start at GE 18 years ago in GE Plastics, had served as NBC's top financial officer for eight years. She returned to Fairfield, Conn., in July to become GE Energy's CFO.

Calpeter was one of the few GE executives who survived the early exodus of senior officers at NBCUniversal when Comcast took control in late January.  Other GE favorites, including former NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, television chief Jeff Gaspin, human resources chief Marc Chini, advertising sales chief Mike Pilot, international chief Peter Smith and communications head Allison Gollust, were quickly shown the door.  

NBC's former sports chairman, Dick Ebersol, abruptly left in May after he and Burke failed to agree on a new contract although he has since returned as a consultant.  Other prominent springtime departures included former diversity chief Paula Madison  (who previously served as general manager of KNBC-TV Channel 4 in Los Angeles), and media works chief John Eck, who had worked at GE Capital and the GE aircraft engines division before joining NBC.

Comcast owns 51% of the joint venture while GE holds 49%.  GE eventually intends to cash in the media company that it has owned for 25 years.

This wasn't the first time Burke recruited a longtime Comcast advisor from the business world to fill a senior-level role.  He hired Adam Miller, former president of public relations firm Abernathy MacGregor Group, as head of corporate affairs and communications for NBCUniversal.

-- Meg James

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Photo of NBC's West Coast offices in Burbank;  Credit David McNew /Getty Images

Comcast delivers strong quarter; NBCUniversal revenue up 17%

 As with life, when it comes to the purchase of media companies, timing is key.

Comcast Corp. on Wednesday delivered strong-second quarter earnings, led by the company's core businesses of providing cable television and high-speed Internet service to its more than 20 million customers.

But its newly acquired media company, NBCUniversal, also shined as each of its entertainment divisions turned in double-digit revenue growth. NBCUniversal revenue jumped 17% to $5.2 billion -- a much stronger performance than what the company had been mustering in recent quarters when General Electric Co. was in control.

Comcast completed its acquisition of a 51% interest in NBCUniversal in late January, more than 14 months after it structured its joint-venture deal with GE. At that time, some of NBCUniversal's businesses, primarily its broadcast network, appeared on the ropes.

"Our timing was just right," Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts told analysts in a morning conference call. 

NBCUniversal primarily benefited from a much healthier advertising market as well as the continued success of its cable television channels. GE continues to hold a 49% stake, but it plans to exit the media company completely in the coming years. 

For the quarter ended June 30, NBCUniversal's revenue of $5.2 billion compared with $4.4 billion in the second quarter of 2010. The company's operating cash flow of $1 billion was up 5.2% from the previous-year period. 

NBCUniversal's cable channels, including USA Network, Syfy, E! and Bravo, led the way with $2.2 billion in revenue -- up 12.6% from the previous-year period. The broadcast television division, including the fourth-place NBC network, collected $1.7 billion in revenue, an 18.5% climb from 2010.

The company's Los Angeles-based film studio, Universal Pictures, generated $1.3 billion -- an increase of 21% from the year-earlier period. The Universal theme parks, buoyed by the success of the Harry Potter attraction in its Orlando, Fla., park, took in $147 million -- 22.5% more revenue than in the previous-year period. 

"The bottom line is we are off to a very strong start," said NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke. "We are making investments, and they are starting to work."

Analysts, however, expressed concern that the advertising market might take another hit as the economy appears to be flat-lining -- again. Burke said the company saw ad revenue increases in the second quarter, but "we are obviously concerned about the economy, as you would expect us to be."

Comcast, as a whole, posted revenue of $14.3 billion, an increase of 50% over the year-earlier period. The higher revenue was attributed to the consolidation of NBCUniversal as well as strong operating results.  

Comcast's operating income was up 41% to $2.9 billion or 37 cents a share. That compared with $2.1 billion, or 31 cents a share, for the second quarter of 2010.

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Photo: Associated Press

Comcast to invest additional $300 million for NBCUniversal programming

Comcast Corp. this year plans to spend $300 million more for television programming to revive the ailing NBC broadcast network and keep the company's cable channels humming.

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke on Wednesday renewed Comcast's long-standing pledge to invest millions of dollars more for television programming than had General Electric Co. Comcast became the majority owner of NBCUniversal in late January, and now GE is the minority partner.

During a conference call with analysts to discuss Comcast's first-quarter earnings, Burke said the company would spend $200 million more this year on prime-time shows to try to give the cellar-dwelling NBC network a lift in the ratings. The Philadelphia-based cable giant also plans to pump in an additional $100 million on programming for the company's profitable cable networks -- including USA, Syfy, E! and Bravo -- to keep the channels at the top of their game. 

Much of the $200 million destined for NBC is to restock the 10 p.m. time slot with scripted shows after the previous regime's debacle of placing Jay Leno in prime time for four months in 2009 and early 2010.  More than a year later, NBC continues to struggle to regain its footing with dramas and comedies at 10 p.m.

"The real key to turning around NBC is not necessarily increasing the investment. The real key is making better shows," Burke said. 

This spring, NBC ordered 21 pilots -- about the same as a year ago, when the network began trying to dig out from the Leno disaster. Burke said he and other company leaders will soon screen NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt's first slate of prime-time programming. NBC plans to unveil its fall schedule in New York on May 16. 

For the quarter ended March 31, NBC broadcast revenue of $1.35 billion was down 35%, primarily due to lower advertising sales. In the first quarter of 2010, NBC's top line was inflated with $782 million in revenue from its coverage of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Analysts wanted to know whether a Comcast-run NBCUniversal would spend wildly to retain its sports franchises, including the Olympics. NBCUniversal ended up losing $223 million on its coverage of the Vancouver games, an embarrassment for GE and a financial miscalculation that few want to see repeated.

NBC also loses more than $100 million a year on its NFL "Sunday Night Football" contract.

But Burke refused to reveal that page of his playbook.

"We're in business to make money, and our approach is going to be disciplined," Burke said.  "As it relates to the Olympics or the NFL, we think those are two fantastic properties and would love to have them, but we would like to make money. ... At the end of the day, we are not going to do anything that doesn't have a business plan that pencils out."  

Comcast also separately reported the financial results of its Los Angeles-based Universal Pictures' unit. For the first quarter, the studio brought in $975 million in revenue, an 8% decline from the year-earlier period. The studio's losses were due to increased marketing costs for its upcoming films, lower DVD sales and some duds at the box office.

"We are well aware of the challenges in the film business, and the fact that the DVD business has declined," Burke said.  "But part of it is that we need to make better films -- and that's a real area of focus for us as well."

-- Meg James

Photo: NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke. Credit Joe Corrigan / Getty Images

Don Browne, president of NBCUniversal's Telemundo network, retires

Telemundo President Don Browne is stepping down, clearing the way for his new bosses at NBCUniversal to make sweeping changes to the Spanish-language television operation.

Browne, who turns 68 next month, plans to leave the company June 3 -- the eight anniversary of his arrival at Telemundo after a distinguished career in NBC News. Browne joined NBC in 1979 as NBC News' Miami bureau chief. He eventually became a top executive within NBC News, and later served as general manager of WTVJ, NBC's owned-and-operated station in Miami.

NBCUniversal said it would announce a new Telemundo president "in the coming months."

The architect of Telemundo's entry into the business of original programming, Browne wanted to end the network's reliance on foreign studios for its prime-time shows.  Browne oversaw the construction of a small TV production center in Hialeah, Fla., just outside of Miami. In recent months, the network has grown its ratings on the strength of its original telenovela, "La Reina del Sur."

However, despite investing hundreds of millions of dollars in original programming over the years, the NBCUniversal-owned Spanish-language network has struggled to make headway in the market. It is dwarfed by its more potent rival, Univision Communications Inc., which obtains most of its popular prime-time soap operas, or telenovelas, from its Mexican programming partner, Grupo Televisa.  Univision has a substantial advantage because its telenovelas -- which have already played on TV in Mexico --  are cheaper to acquire and have a track record. Univision schedules the programs that generated big ratings in Mexico and appeal to the large Mexican American population in the U.S.

When Comcast Corp. took control of NBCUniversal in January, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts and NBCUniversal's new chief, Steve Burke, said they wanted Telemundo to produce stronger ratings and, thus, more revenue for the company.

Browne was assigned a new supervisor, Lauren Zalaznick, who is dramatically different from the suit-and-tie bosses that Browne had before. Instead of giving Browne autonomy to run his business, Zalaznick was determined to get involved, even taking Spanish lessons and spending days immersing herself in Telemundo's operations in South Florida and Los Angeles.

Since 2005, Browne has been responsible for all of Telemundo's business and programming functions, including running Telemundo's 14 owned-and-operated television stations, including KVEA-TV Channel 52 in Los Angeles. He also managed Telemundo's news and sports operations and its youth-oriented cable channel, mun2.

NBCUniversal said Browne was "an early and fervent supporter of NBC's investment in Spanish-language television and played a key role in the company's 2001 acquisition of Telemundo."

"Don Browne has had an outstanding career as a broadcaster and executive, from his years as a bureau chief and executive vice president of NBC News to his tenure most recently at Telemundo," Burke said in a statement Tuesday announcing Browne's retirement.  "We are grateful for what he has accomplished."

-- Meg James

Photo: Don Browne. Credit: Telemundo / NBCUniversal

 

NBCUniversal diversity executive Paula Madison to step down

NBCUniversal chief diversity officer and former KNBC-TV Channel 4 general manager Paula Madison is leaving the company after 22 years to focus on her family's investment business.

Madison becomes the latest high-ranking executive to depart in the wake of Comcast Corp.'s takeover of NBCUniversal -- but for a different reason than many others. Instead of being forced out, Madison wanted to become more involved with her family's 5-year-old company, Williams Group Holdings, which is majority owner in the Los Angeles Sparks professional basketball team and the largest investor in the Africa Channel.

"For years I have wanted to retire early," Madison said in an interview Monday. "There have been many instances where I had to recuse myself from a variety of our investments because of my position at NBC."

Madison said she began discussing her retirement with NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke less than two weeks ago.  They agreed her last day would be May 20 at the conclusion of Comcast and NBCUniversal's first Joint Diversity Advisory Council meeting in Philadelphia.

"The timing just made sense," she said.

In 2007, former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker elevated Madison -- who for seven years was general manager of KNBC -- to a "cabinet-level" job that he carved out: chief diversity officer. Zucker wanted to underscore the company's commitment to minorities in the workforce as well as on the TV screen.

Although she had been thinking about retirement for some time, Madison said she wanted to stay on during NBCUniversal's change in ownership. After a nearly 13-month regulatory review, General Electric Co. in January transferred its majority stake in the media company to cable giant Comcast Corp. 

"Little did I know that diversity would turn into such a big issue during the approval process," Madison said. "I'm so glad that I follwed my instincts and stayed on to make sure that I would be part of that."

As part of an agreement with the federal government, Comcast agreed to launch 10 new independently owned-and-operated channels over the next decade in an effort to afford minorities a greater voice in media ownership, which is dominated by a handful of multibillion-dollar conglomerates.

Her family investment business plans to launch a new arm, Madison Media Productions, to make investments in multicultural media initiatives, she said.

Madison, 58, began her career as a newspaper reporter in her native New York and later worked in Dallas and Fort Worth. In 1989, she joined NBC-owned TV station WNBC Channel 4 in New York as an assistant news director. In 2000, she moved to Los Angeles to run KNBC Channel 4. She  worked as president and general manager of the L.A. station and its sister Spanish-language outlets until she took the corporate post.

NBCUniversal, meanwhile, said Burke would name a new diversity officer "in the next several weeks."  That person is expected to report to Burke, as did Madison.

"I'm glad that I'm leaving NBC in a good position in diversity," Madison said. "Steve Burke and all the people who work so hard on this issue will take good care of it."

-- Meg James

Photo of Paula Madison. Credit: NBCUniversal