NBC Promotes Hammer to Lead New Cable Entertainment Group

NBC Universal promoted Bonnie Hammer to oversee an expanded lineup of cable channels and studios, operations that produce about half of the company’s cash flow.

Hammer will be in charge of the newly formed Cable Entertainment Group, according to an e-mailed statement today from the New York-based company. NBC also named former Univision Chief Executive Officer Joe Uva to the newly created position of chairman, Hispanic enterprises and content.

With the change, Hammer adds Bravo, Oxygen, Style, Sprout and TV One to a portfolio of seven networks that already includes USA Network, SyFy and E!, as well as Universal Cable Productions.

NBC also named Lauren Zalaznick, currently chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment & Digital Networks, an executive vice president of the company, focusing on digital operations. All three report to Steven Burke, NBC Universal’s CEO.

Comcast, which own a majority of NBC Universal, fell 1.1 percent to $38.19 at the close in New York. Shares of the Philadelphia-based company, the largest cable service in the U.S., rose 58 percent last year compared with a 37 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Media Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net