Jeff Zucker

CEO
NBC Universal

Zucker runs one of the world's leading media and entertainment content companies. Its assets include NBC and Telemundo; cable networks USA, SCI FI, Bravo, Oxygen, CNBC, MSNBC and the Weather Channel; movie studios Universal Pictures and Focus Features; digital properties such as Hulu and iVillage; an extensive array of international television channels in Europe, Asia, and Latin America; and theme parks in Hollywood and Orlando. Zucker has spent his entire career at NBC, joining the company's Olympic unit in 1986, straight out of college. Before taking the helm of NBC Entertainment, Zucker spent nearly eight years as the executive producer of NBC News' "Today" show. He was appointed to the position at age 26, making him the youngest executive producer in the history of the program.

Posts With Jeff Zucker

Hulu, Networks Close To New Deal

Peter Kafka in Media on May 12, 2011 at 7:02 pm PT

The Web video joint venture figures out how to keep TV shows on its free site and paid service, while keeping its owner/content providers happy. What about CEO Jason Kilar?

A Web Video Truce: Free Hulu Goes Away From Boxee, Replaced by Hulu Plus

Peter Kafka in Media on November 10, 2010 at 4:45 pm PT

The Hulu-Boxee war is over! The terms of the truce: Boxee, which makes software that makes it easy to get Web video on TV, will remove links to Hulu’s free service–but will give users the ability to use the Hulu Plus paid service.

NBC U Perks Up a Bit for Its New Owners

Peter Kafka in Media on October 15, 2010 at 5:56 am PT

This should make the folks in Philadelphia feel a bit better about their purchase-to-be: GE says that its NBC Universal unit, soon to become a Comcast property, had a “pretty solid” third quarter.

Viral Video: Jeff Zucker Gets Zuckered

Kara Swisher in News on October 1, 2010 at 4:40 am PT

Yahoo is not the only HR excitement these days! Here is a very funny spoof of the firing of NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker last week by new owners Comcast, which was on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late-night television show. BoomTown interviewed the media mogul at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in 2009, which is also below. Guess which one I like better.

TV Studios Aren’t Buying Apple’s 99-Cent Rentals

John Paczkowski in News on September 30, 2010 at 9:05 am PT

Better run a diagnostic on the reality distortion field.…“We think the rest of the studios will see the light and get on board pretty fast,” Steve Jobs said earlier this month of the TV studios wary of its new 99-cent iTunes TV rentals initiative. And while it’s never wise to bet against the Apple CEO, it’s beginning to look like “pretty fast” was an optimistic choice of words.

Meet the New Boss: What's on Steve Burke's Mind as He Takes Over NBC U?

Peter Kafka in Media on September 26, 2010 at 1:55 pm PT

No surprise that Comcast COO Steve Burke would be taking the reins at NBC Universal after the cable company swallowed it up–even though Comcast insisted that wouldn’t be the case. “Jeff Zucker is going to be CEO of the entity,” Burke told BoomTown’s Kara Swisher in June in an onstage interview at the eighth D: All Things Digital conference. Here’s more from that chat.

News Byte

Comcast, NBC Announce the End of the Jeff Zucker Show

Peter Kafka in Media on September 24, 2010 at 8:43 am PT

Not a surprise: NBC U head Jeff Zucker concedes that he will, in fact, step down once Comcast finishes buying his company from GE. The move was obvious to anyone who watched the two companies, but both sides refused to acknowledge it until now. The New York Post says Zucker will get a very golden parachute as he exits–something north of $30 million. Meanwhile, Zucker defends his much-criticized tenure to the New York Times: “The thing I regret most is not moving quickly enough.”

NBC U's Okay Quarter Just Fine for GE

Peter Kafka in Media on July 16, 2010 at 6:12 am PT

GE doesn’t really care much about NBC Universal, which is why it’s happy to hand it off to Comcast once regulators sign off. But for the record, the cable/broadcast/movie conglomerate posted an okay quarter: Revenues were up five percent and operating profit was up 13 percent, the company said this morning.

NBC Keeps Part of the Hulu/Boxee Story a Secret

Peter Kafka in Media on June 16, 2010 at 3:36 pm PT

Remember the great Hulu/Boxee controversy of 2009? It’s not going away. In response to questioning from the Federal Communications Commission, NBC has described its version of the incident–but the broadcaster doesn’t want everyone to see what it has to say.

Boxee: Either Jeff Zucker or Jason Kilar Is Lying About Booting Us Off Hulu

Peter Kafka in Media on February 4, 2010 at 2:21 pm PT

Little Boxee, the much hyped Web video service, played a cameo role at today’s Congressional hearings on the Comcast-NBCU deal. And as sometimes happens when Boxee and big media intersect, controversy ensued.