Val Boreland to Lead NBCU Spin-Off's Entertainment

Val Boreland, a top executive known for scoring big content deals for NBCUniversal's cable networks, has been tapped to lead the entertainment division of a new spin-off company. This new entity, dubbed "SpinCo, " will be a separate, publicly traded part of NBCUniversal and is expected to launch later this year. Boreland's past achievements include securing releases from Universal Filmed Entertainment Group for the Peacock streaming service and bringing the "John Wick" franchise to Peacock with a prequel series called "The Continental. " Mark Lazarus, the new CEO of SpinCo, and Anand Kini, the Chief Financial Officer, are building a strong leadership team. Lazarus expressed enthusiasm, stating, "Together, we will make the most of our famous media assets, aim for growth, and attract more talent as we move towards the spin-off completion. " The team will start their new roles in early April. Comcast is planning to spin off a majority of its cable assets, which include MSNBC, CNBC, USA, E! , Oxygen, Syfy, and Universal Kids. Bravo, known for feeding programming to Peacock, will stay with the NBC TV business. Comcast initially announced plans to explore this spin-off in October. Keith Cocozza, who has led communications for NBC and Time Warner, will take on the role of chief communications officer. Brian Dorfler will be the chief human resources officer, Jeff Mayzurk the president of operations and technology, and Kristin Newkirk the CFO of the TV networks. David Pietrycha is the new chief revenue and business officer, while Greg Wright will serve as chief accounting officer and controller. More executive appointments are expected soon. With Boreland's appointment, it seems the company wants to boost viewership by striking strategic deals for popular series and specials, rather than just focusing on original content. The company aims to offer a diverse and differentiated content mix, with live news, sports, and entertainment at the core. This spin-off portfolio generates approximately $7 billion in annual revenue.