Val Boreland tapped to lead Comcast’s planned cable spin-off company as president
Comcast has cemented the leadership team for its planned cable spin-off company, with veteran NBCUniversal executive Val Boreland named as president of entertainment among several other appointments.
Val Boreland
Boreland, whose current role is executive VP, head of content acquisitions, TV and streaming for NBCUniversal, will be responsible for overseeing the entertainment operations of the publicly traded entity (currently dubbed SpinCo), which will comprise cablenets USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel in addition to digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine.
The appointment was announced on Thursday by Mark Lazarus, who is moving from his role as chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group to become the CEO of SpinCo, set to launch later this year. Lazarus will lead alongside Anand Kini, who will become chief financial officer and chief operating officer of SpinCo.
In addition to Boreland, there were several other appointments revealed on Thursday, with Keith Cocozza as chief communications officer, Brian Dorfler as chief human resources officer, Jeff Mayzurk as president of operations and technology, Kristin Newkirk as chief financial officer of TV Networks, David Pietrycha as chief revenue and business officer and Greg Wright as chief accounting officer and controller.
The future leadership team will begin their new roles in early April.
The spin-off company, which does not include broadcaster NBC, streamer Peacock or cablenet Bravo, will reach approximately 70 million US households, according to Comcast, with the assets housed within SpinCo generating around US$7bn in revenue each year currently.
Earlier this week, it emerged that Peacock president Kelly Campbell is exiting the company as a result of the executive reshuffle that is taking place amid the formation of SpinCo.
“As we embark on this journey to build a one-of-a-kind company, I am thrilled to be joined by such a talented group of leaders with the experience and expertise needed to make SpinCo a leading multimedia company from day one,” said Lazarus.
“Together, we will capitalise upon our iconic media assets, chart a course for growth and continue to attract additional talent as we build momentum toward the completion of the spin-off.”
Kini: “This team was handpicked because of their expertise within each of their function areas. I am confident that with and under the leadership of Mark, we will design and build a modern media company with the scale to compete and the right strategy to unlock organic and external growth opportunities.”
