Exclusive: Comcast Reshuffles Its Digital Deck Before NBC Comes Aboard

Comcast hasn’t finished acquiring NBC Universal. But it is already moving around some of its digital leadership ahead of the deal’s close.

Sources familiar with the company say that current digital head Amy Banse is moving out of her post, which is being split up into two jobs. One of them has already gone to her former lieutenant Matt Strauss, who will head up the properties directly connected to Comcast’s core cable business, most notably its Fancast/Xfinity TV portal. The other job will be overseeing NBC U’s digital businesses–everything from NBC.com to iVillage to its stake in Hulu–as well as Comcast properties like Daily Candy and Fandango.

Banse might have been an obvious candidate for that gig, but it’s not panning out that way. Instead, she will continue to run Comcast’s sites until Washington signs off on the pending deal between Comcast and NBC U’s owner GE (GE).

Then she’s supposed to end up in a new, yet-to-be determined role at the cable giant. She’s a lawyer who has held multiple positions at Comcast since joining in 1991, so in theory she could end up in a variety of places within the company. Comcast (CMCSA) declined to comment.

Also left unresolved: Who will run the NBC U digital/Comcast portfolio once the two companies merge? NBC U doesn’t have a single digital czar but instead has a cadre of people with digital duties. It’s unclear whether Comcast will want to keep that structure or put in a single person to run the whole thing.