NBCUniversal Shake-Up: How Will Donna Langley Promotion & Susan Rovner Exit Impact Studio’s Television Business
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David Zaslav should be sending a fruit basket right about now to Comcast boss Mike Cavanagh.
Hollywood’s gaze has moved from Warner Bros Discovery to NBCUniversal, which has just undergone its latest restructure under the new Comcast president, a move that saw film chief Donna Langley expand her empire into television and the departure of Susan Rovner.
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What do the changes mean for NBCU’s television business under Langley, is the company destined for another shake-up on the television side, and was Rovner, who oversaw series such as NBC’s Night Court, one of the biggest new broadcast comedies in the last few years, and Peacock’s acclaimed Poker Face, a success?
During a keynote at SXSW in March, Rovner told a story about how former CEO Jeff Shell – who exited after a sexual harassment investigation – told her that when someone walks into one of its theme parks, it’s a “little more dangerous” and less family-friendly than Disney.
It certainly turned out that way for Rovner.
Langley becomes Chairman, NBCUniversal Studio Group & Chief Content Officer, and will oversee both film and television, a shift in the dynamic in the town, which has largely seen studios spread oversight of the big and small screens.
Rovner, who was Chairman, Entertainment Content for NBCUniversal’s Television and Streaming division, and her counterpart Frances Berwick, who was Chairman, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, both reported to Mark Lazarus, who was Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. He has now been promoted to Chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group.
Berwick, who is now Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment, will now report to Lazarus and Langley, returning the company to essentially having one entertainment chief on the television side.
What does that mean for the rest of the leadership team?
Execs including Lisa Katz, President of Scripted Content, Corie Henson, who joined last year as EVP Entertainment Unscripted Content, and EVP Late Night Katie Hockmeyer will now report directly to Berwick, whereas previously they reported to both Berwick and Rovner.
There is one outstanding question on the unscripted side. While Henson, who came over from the Turner networks, oversees competition series and big-budget studio shows, the lifestyle and docuseries side had been Rod Aissa before his exit last month. Rachel Smith, who has overseen a number of The Real Housewives shows, recently took over on an interim basis.
Rovner was understood to be figuring out whether Smith would take over on a permanent basis or whether there would be an outside search. While sources told Deadline that Smith had been expected to be given the role full time, this is now a question for Langley and Berwick.
Rovner’s tenure
Analyzing Rovner’s two and a half years in charge of all programming across NBC, Peacock and its slew of cable networks, including Bravo, is complicated.
On one hand, she delivered a huge hit in Night Court, which was quickly renewed for a second season. She also brought in high-profile series such as Poker Face, which has similarly been renewed, from Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne; as well as Pete Davidson’s Bupkis, which was subject to a bidding war; and The Best Man: The Final Chapters, which became the first Peacock original to crack the Nielsen streaming chart; as well as competition series The Traitors.
Cavanagh, in his note to staff today, praised Rovner and her team and also highlighted the success of its Bravo franchises, “almost all of which have seen year-over-year growth under her leadership.” Vanderpump Rules was particularly boosted, thanks to a cheating scandal.
However, launching shows on Peacock has been difficult; the streamer only has around 22 million subscribers, paling in comparison with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. One source said Rovner was “hampered” by such numbers.
“The biggest challenge is to tell audiences that our shows exist. We are all fighting for eyeballs and audiences. It is most painful when a fantastic show can’t find the audience simply because of so many other choices offered to viewers,” Rovner told Brunswick Review.
She was also aware of the damage of short-term thinking when it came to streaming. During her SXSW keynote, she highlighted the fact that canceling good shows means that companies may not be able to build up libraries such as The Office in the future.
“Everything right now is so driven by subscriptions and getting as many subscribers as possible and that’s why people are going after the shiny and new,” she said.
One agent told Deadline that former Warner Bros Television boss Rovner was a “fantastic” creative executive and she’s been praised for the way she handles talent. But running programming for a broadcast network, a slew of cable networks and a nascent streaming service is a very different job than running a television studio.
In the beginning of her tenure, Rovner was accused of being “inaccessible” to her colleagues and others said that she had “isolated” herself but had grown into that leadership over that period, holding town halls for staff.
Rovner has been subject of rumors of her departure for months, if not longer. Shell is believed to have once asked her “Are you in or are you out?”. She was in.
But it was Shell’s structure that he put in place in 2020 after the departure of Steve Burke – combining broadcast, cable and streaming – that has been labeled by some as “dysfunctional.” Rovner was being judged on a role that was much larger than many of her predecessors, overseeing “vast silos” within the company.
There is also likely to be another restructure on the television side, particularly within studios, once Langley has gotten her feet under the desk. Sources have said they’re hearing further changes cound come around the end of the year, which would make sense given Langley’s new focus.
In addition to the networks and the film studios including Universal Pictures, Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation, Langley will oversee the company’s television studios: Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal Television Alternative Studios and Universal International Studios.
In his note to staff about the restructure, Cavanagh said that Langley will “leverage her longstanding relationships with the creative community and ability to partner with the most prolific storytellers in our business to unlock a seamless cross-portfolio creative strategy including programming, distribution and marketing across Film, Television and Streaming.”
That could be either corporate word salad or a hint that Langley could bring film and TV closer together. A Fast & Furious television series? Persuading Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan to do a television series?
Cavanagh also praised Pearlena Igbokwe, Chairman of Universal Studio Group, in his note, saying that under her tenure the division has seen “impressive revenue increase and year-over-year volume growth” with 108 series currently airing or streaming. Igbokwe will continue in that role and is believed to have a good working relationship with Langley, but sources have noted that her unit could be part of changes later in the year, potentially bringing together some of the film and TV functions.
Then, there’s also the question of the 10 p.m. slot on NBC. Last year, Shell acknowledged that it had considered dropping out of the hour and handing it back to the affiliates. Rovner said this wouldn’t happen for the 2023-24 season, but it’s evidently a consideration in the future for Cavanagh, Langley and Berwick.
Rovner will land another plum role, likely on the production side, sources note, and she has been responsible for a number of series yet to air that could add to her NBCU legacy.
NBC has Nkechi Okoro Carroll’s Found; Jesse L. Martin-fronted The Irrational; and comedies Extended Family, starring Jon Cryer, and St. Denis Medical, from Justin Spitzer, coming next season. There’s also a reboot of Deal or No Deal (as well as a decision to be made on Zachary Quinto-fronted pilot Wolf).
Peacock has Anthony Mackie-fronted action comedy Twisted Metal, based on the video game, coming later this month, as well as a TV spinoff of Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, John Wick spinoff The Continental, Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake from A24, Julie Bowen-fronted Satanic panic thriller Hysteria!, a horror series based on bestselling novel Stinger from Yellowstone writer Ian McCulloch and The Conjuring’s James Wan, and the Community movie on the books.
Cavanagh’s move, meanwhile, is likely to be only the first of many.
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