Questions Swirl About NBCUniversal’s Future After C.E.O.’s Shocking Firing

Since the abrupt ouster on Sunday of NBCUniversal’s chief govt, Jeff Shell, the corporate’s at-least-for-now successor has begun settling into the job.

Mr. Shell’s appearing substitute, Mike Cavanagh, the president of Comcast, which is NBCUniversal’s mum or dad, was dispatched from Philadelphia to NBCUniversal’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters this week to satisfy with dozens of prime executives. Mr. Cavanagh has additionally visited the set of the “Today” present, reached out to news anchors like Lester Holt and met the late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

But whether or not Mr. Cavanagh strikes into the job completely, or Comcast finally chooses another person for the place, the brand new chief will probably be in command of a enterprise that’s the topic of fixed rumors and hypothesis about its future path, together with questions like:

Will Brian Roberts, the chief govt of Comcast, mix NBCUniversal with one other firm, an possibility he has beforehand explored?

Will Mr. Roberts pursue a sale or a full acquisition of the streaming service Hulu, which NBCUniversal owns collectively with Disney?

And will the NBC broadcast community quit an hour of its prime-time lineup and hand it over to native associates, or start negotiations for broadcast rights for the National Basketball Association?

NBCUniversal is way from being in dire straits. It is the house of fabled establishments like “Saturday Night Live” and “Today,” in addition to profitable franchises like “Despicable Me” and “The Real Housewives.” It generated $39 billion in income final yr, a 14 p.c improve from the yr earlier than.

But the corporate additionally owns a number of cable networks equivalent to USA and Bravo which might be hemorrhaging viewers. Its streaming service, Peacock, is rising rapidly however nonetheless has far fewer subscribers than lots of its rivals and is projected to lose $3 billion this yr.

These points, which have been looming for months, had been introduced again to the forefront after Mr. Shell’s sudden departure. Comcast introduced on Sunday that Mr. Shell was leaving the corporate after an investigation right into a grievance of “inappropriate conduct.”

His exit got here after Hadley Gamble, a senior worldwide correspondent at CNBC, had filed an inside grievance that leveled accusations of sexual harassment and intercourse discrimination, in keeping with her lawyer, Suzanne McKie. Comcast executives started an investigation after Ms. Gamble filed the grievance in late March. On Monday, the corporate mentioned in a submitting Mr. Shell had been fired after an investigation corroborated accusations of sexual harassment.

Mr. Roberts and Mr. Cavanagh met with Mr. Shell on the workplaces of a legislation agency in Philadelphia on Friday and instructed Mr. Shell he was being fired, in keeping with two folks with data of the inner discussions who weren’t approved to talk publicly.

Mr. Shell was stunned by the sudden flip of occasions. He had been assembly with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., within the days main as much as his firing, planning to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, in keeping with two folks conversant in the matter. He has employed a high-profile disaster communications knowledgeable, Risa Heller, and a widely known lawyer.

Mr. Shell declined to touch upon the circumstances of his departure however mentioned in an announcement that he was “profoundly upset with how much pain and embarrassment I have brought to my family.”

“I am solely focused on making amends to them,” Mr. Shell mentioned.

Comcast remains to be trying into components of Ms. Gamble’s grievance associated to sexual discrimination, in keeping with two folks conversant in the investigation.

Comcast declined to touch upon the investigation. Regarding the way forward for Comcast’s management, a spokeswoman referred The New York Times to remarks made by Mr. Roberts on Thursday’s first-quarter earnings name, calling Mr. Cavanagh “a fantastic executive and operator.”

Mr. Roberts has sought to reassure traders since Mr. Shell’s departure. On the earnings name on Thursday, he made a quick assertion in assist of Mr. Cavanagh and NBCUniversal’s executives. He praised NBCUniversal’s bench of veteran leaders, and mentioned Mr. Cavanagh would “step in at the helm” of the corporate whereas remaining president of Comcast after a “tough moment.”

Comcast’s share worth rose about 10 p.c after the corporate’s earnings name on Thursday.

In a present of assist, Mr. Roberts joined Mr. Cavanagh in New York for NBCUniversal’s govt committee assembly, which Mr. Shell used to run, in keeping with three folks with data of the gathering. During the assembly, Mr. Cavanagh reassured assembled leaders that he can be there for the foreseeable future. Next week, Mr. Cavanagh is anticipated to move out to Los Angeles to satisfy with West Coast executives.

There is a consensus amongst executives at NBCUniversal that Mr. Shell’s departure is not going to enormously have an effect on the corporate’s TV, movie and news belongings within the quick time period. Mr. Shell’s greatest selections wanted approval from Mr. Cavanagh and Mr. Roberts, who’ve closing say on the massive points going through the corporate. “I don’t think the business is going to miss a beat,” Mr. Cavanagh mentioned through the earnings name.

Even although Mr. Cavanagh has taken the reins, he’s unlikely to surrender duties throughout the broader Comcast empire, which incorporates cable and wi-fi companies.

Mr. Cavanagh is broadly believed to be the most probably inside candidate to succeed Mr. Roberts. A full-time job working simply NBCUniversal would in some methods be a demotion. He is the one president within the firm’s historical past who doesn’t belong to the Roberts household, which controls Comcast.

Still, some executives at NBCUniversal assume the media belongings want a devoted chief. There are too many selections to be taken throughout all kinds of companies — together with theme parks, movie studios and TV programming — in addition to extra existential selections to be made for it to be anybody’s part-time job.

Mr. Cavanagh believes that Comcast has a stronger hand than lots of its rivals within the media trade, which embody Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. Profits from Comcast’s broadband and wi-fi companies insulate the corporate considerably from the advert gross sales hunch affecting lots of its friends, giving it money to put money into streaming.

And NBCUniversal’s film studio and theme parks companies are rising, with current vivid spots together with the opening of “Super Nintendo World” at Universal Studios and the discharge of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has been a success on the field workplace. On Thursday, Comcast mentioned its earnings grew barely within the first quarter regardless of a lower in advert income and slower progress in its broadband enterprise.

The hypothesis that Mr. Roberts and Mr. Cavanagh may spin off NBCUniversal has swirled for months, fueled by reviews that they thought of combining the corporate with the online game studio Electronic Arts final yr. With lots of NBCUniversal’s rivals teaming as much as beef up their streaming companies, some analysts have speculated that Mr. Roberts and Mr. Cavanagh are attempting to find one other massive deal.

One potential goal mentioned by analysts is Warner Bros. Discovery, the newly minted media colossus created by the fusion of WarnerMedia — proprietor of HBO and the Warner Bros. film studio — and Discovery, proprietor of cable networks like HGTV and TLC.

Craig Moffett, a senior managing director of the SVB MoffettNathanson analysis agency, mentioned that such a deal may give the mixed firm sufficient heft to pay for all the films and TV reveals that might win over sufficient subscribers to make the service worthwhile. “But most Comcast investors hate that idea,” he added.

“I think Mike will inevitably put his stamp on the business,” Mr. Moffett mentioned, “and in this case that inevitably means some role for mergers and acquisitions, or divestitures.”