NBCUniversal Shuffles Suits

Matt Strauss

NBCUniversal has tapped Matt Strauss, a longtime executive at Comcast Corp., to oversee its upcoming streaming service, called Peacock.

Strauss was named chairman of Peacock on Monday as part of a management shakeup at NBCUniversal’s television studios, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Strauss was most recently executive vice president of Xfinity services for Comcast, where he oversaw the cable giant’s video, internet, home, and voice businesses.

Peacock is set to launch in April with 15,000 hours of content. Unlike ad-free Netflix, Peacock will be supported by advertising, with an ad-free version available for a fee that has not yet been disclosed.

NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, is a late entrant into the streaming business, which has been dominated by companies such as Netflix and Hulu.

Peacock was developed under Bonnie Hammer, who will now head NBCUniversal Content Studios, a newly created part of the company that will house its television studios. Hammer and Strauss will both report to Steve Burke, NBCUniversal’s CEO, the company said.

Strauss was one of the “pioneers of video-on-demand” and helped launch X1, Comcast’s video platform, its voice remote, and cloud DVR, among other services, according to NBCUniversal. He was also an architect of Xfinity Flex, a Roku-like streaming box that aggregates streaming services and is free for Comcast’s internet-only customers. Strauss joined Comcast’s senior management team in 2004.

Bonnie Hammer

The company also announced that George Cheeks, Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment, will become Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios, reporting to Hammer. He will also continue to oversee late-night programming for NBC. Pearlena Igbokwe and Dawn Olmstead will continue in their roles as head of Universal Television and Universal Content Productions respectively, jointly reporting to Hammer and Cheeks.

Paul Telegdy will become the sole Chairman of NBC Entertainment, reporting to Jeff Shell, Chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment. Telegdy will also continue to oversee syndication and Universal Television Alternative Studio.

Mark Lazarus continues as Chairman of NBCUniversal Broadcast, Cable, Sports and News, overseeing the cable entertainment networks, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, the owned-and-operated local stations, and affiliate relations.