The Business Insider puts a (tee hee) nasty headline "Jeff Zucker May Get The Boot" on its gloss on Sharon Waxman's story in her own publication, The Wrap, more blandly headlined, "Comcast Starts 'Integration' With NBCU," but Waxman's story is plenty tough, when you get down to it, as she analyzes Comcast's maneuverings as it plans to take control of NBC-U, currently headed by Jeff ("We're #4!) Zucker.
I"ve been advised to read Comcast COO Steve Burke's words today carefully. Speaking to a State of the Net conference sponsored by the Advisory Committee for the Congressional Internet Caucus in Washington, Roberts said of Zucker: “We have said Jeff's going to be the CEO of the company, reporting to (COO) Steve Burke. I am optimistic that when we get to Day 1, we will have a full plan that is exciting.”
Said one insider: "He said that Jeff Zucker will be the CEO on Day One." Which means, day Two might bring something else.
I've also learned that Burke was out on the left coast meeting with NBCU executives on his own this month, for the first time since the announced acquisition.
Zucker had previously been careful to stay close to Burke and Comcast CEO Steve Roberts, and had been careful that top people like NBC chief Jeff Gaspin or Universal president Ron Meyer did not meet with Burke on their own.
What did they say about the company, and about Zucker, in the mogul's absence? And what kinds of questions was Burke asking them?
No one takes Steve Burke for a dummy. He is not blind nor deaf -- and he knows how the network looks to the world.
Some of Waxman's details are amusing, such as her report that Zucker tried to keep Gaspin and Meyer from meeting with any Comcastians when he, Zucker, wasn't around. But of course, those sorts of petty games don't work--as Waxman also says, the Comcastians are smart. They know that the reason they are getting NBC-U at such a cheap price is because Zucker has made the company cheaper. And so while JZ might have some political contacts that can help Comcast get through the regulatory hurdles of DC, his acumen as a network exec is, well, obviously lacking.
Waxman, it should be remembered, broke the story of Comcast's acquisition of NBC-U last fall. So she knows her stuff.
