Vice chairman Bonnie Hammer to leave after 20 years at NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal’s vice chairman Bonnie Hammer is set to leave her post at the end of the year.

Bonnie Hammer

Hammer, a long-tenured and highly regarded executive, has held multiple high-profile roles within NBCUniversal since joining 20 years ago following the merger of Universal Television and NBC.

She was named vice chairman in 2020 after the departure of Ron Mayer following a sex scandal.

Before that, she was the chairman of Universal Studio Group (USG), during which time she oversaw the move to bring Universal Television, UCP and Universal International Studios (fka NBCUniversal International Studios) under the USG umbrella.

Prior to working on the studio side, Hammer was the chairman of direct-to-consumer and digital enterprises. In that role, she oversaw the creation of NBCUniversal’s streamer Peacock.

Before moving to oversee Peacock, Hammer was the chairman of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, where she oversaw channels and brands including Syfy, Bravo, USA Network, E! And Universal Kids during their heyday of domestic and international growth.

According to NBCUniversal, the media company’s cable portfolio grew profits and revenue for 14 consecutive years, with the portfolio of USA, SYFY, Bravo, Oxygen and E! generating US$6bn in revenue and US$3bn in profit in 2018.

During her time there, NBCUniversal’s cable brands and production studio UCP produced and commissioned titles such as Suits, Psych, Mr Robot, The Sinner, Psych and Monk.

While her departure comes on the heels of Comcast’s decision to spin off the majority of its cable assets into a new company, the two events are not thought to be linked. Hammer is exiting as her current contract with NBCUniversal ends, according to Variety, which was first to report the news.