NBCUniversal Chief Jeff Shell’s sudden departure, triggered by a sexual harassment investigation, has shaken parent company Comcast Corp.
“Obviously, a tough moment,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Thursday morning to open the Philadelphia cable and entertainment giant’s first-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
Roberts’ remark at the start of what otherwise would have been an upbeat presentation, trumpeting Comcast’s solid financial performance and the blockbuster start for Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” underscored the company’s embarrassment — and challenges.
Comcast must pick up the pieces after Shell, who had been one of Roberts’ trusted lieutenants for 19 years, hastily departed.
The NBCUniversal chief’s ouster followed the investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime Middle East correspondent for CNBC, Hadley Gamble. The journalist’s attorney in London confirmed earlier this week that Gamble made the harassment report against Shell, which launched the investigation that led to his ouster.
Comcast, in regulatory filings, said it had hired an outside law firm to look into the matter after receiving the complaint that Shell “engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment.” In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, Comcast said: “During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.”
Gamble made the sexual harassment report about a month ago. The company terminated Shell’s contract and does not plan to pay him a severance package, according to people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment.
Comcast Cable President Mike Cavanagh has taken over the leadership of Shell’s senior team.
During Thursday’s call with analysts, Cavanagh suggested that moving on from the Shell scandal should not be too difficult.
The media company includes businesses managed by proven leaders, including at the Universal theme parks; the Los Angeles-based movie studio, which has built its animation business into a juggernaut; the NBC broadcast network and cable channels, including USA, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, and the Peacock streaming service.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” for example, has surpassed $890 million in global box office receipts since its April 5 release. That included $444 million in U.S. ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Job No. 1 for me is to settle things down,” Cavanagh said. “Frankly, I don’t think the business is going to miss a beat.”
Cavanagh, a Comcast veteran for nearly eight years, made it clear that Shell did not run the business by himself.
“The strategies were developed by the entire leadership team,” Cavanagh said. “Brian [Roberts] mentioned what a great a team we have across a diverse collection of businesses — parks, studios, TV, streaming services, news, sports. Strategies are put together by those teams of leaders, obviously, in conjunction with the ultimate leader, and then with Brian and myself. So we’ve been deeply involved for a long, long time.”
He told analysts not to expect a shift in business strategy.
Comcast beat analyst expectations on its first-quarter earnings.
The company generated $29.7 billion revenue, a decline of 4%, because of difficult comparisons with the year-earlier period, which included results from NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics and last year’s Super Bowl. Net income attributable to Comcast increased 8% to $3.83 billion.
Thursday represented the company’s first earnings report under a corporate structure that folded the NBCUniversal businesses into a new “content and experiences” segment. For that group, revenue declined 9.5% to $10.26 billion for the first quarter.
NBCUniversal Chief Jeff Shell’s sudden departure, triggered by a sexual harassment investigation, has shaken parent company Comcast Corp.
“Obviously, a tough moment,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Thursday morning to open the Philadelphia cable and entertainment giant’s first-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
Roberts’ remark at the start of what otherwise would have been an upbeat presentation, trumpeting Comcast’s solid financial performance and the blockbuster start for Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” underscored the company’s embarrassment — and challenges.
Comcast must pick up the pieces after Shell, who had been one of Roberts’ trusted lieutenants for 19 years, hastily departed.
The NBCUniversal chief’s ouster followed the investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime Middle East correspondent for CNBC, Hadley Gamble. The journalist’s attorney in London confirmed earlier this week that Gamble made the harassment report against Shell, which launched the investigation that led to his ouster.
Comcast, in regulatory filings, said it had hired an outside law firm to look into the matter after receiving the complaint that Shell “engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment.” In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, Comcast said: “During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.”
Gamble made the sexual harassment report about a month ago. The company terminated Shell’s contract and does not plan to pay him a severance package, according to people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment.
Comcast Cable President Mike Cavanagh has taken over the leadership of Shell’s senior team.
During Thursday’s call with analysts, Cavanagh suggested that moving on from the Shell scandal should not be too difficult.
The media company includes businesses managed by proven leaders, including at the Universal theme parks; the Los Angeles-based movie studio, which has built its animation business into a juggernaut; the NBC broadcast network and cable channels, including USA, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, and the Peacock streaming service.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” for example, has surpassed $890 million in global box office receipts since its April 5 release. That included $444 million in U.S. ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Job No. 1 for me is to settle things down,” Cavanagh said. “Frankly, I don’t think the business is going to miss a beat.”
Cavanagh, a Comcast veteran for nearly eight years, made it clear that Shell did not run the business by himself.
“The strategies were developed by the entire leadership team,” Cavanagh said. “Brian [Roberts] mentioned what a great a team we have across a diverse collection of businesses — parks, studios, TV, streaming services, news, sports. Strategies are put together by those teams of leaders, obviously, in conjunction with the ultimate leader, and then with Brian and myself. So we’ve been deeply involved for a long, long time.”
He told analysts not to expect a shift in business strategy.
Comcast beat analyst expectations on its first-quarter earnings.
The company generated $29.7 billion revenue, a decline of 4%, because of difficult comparisons with the year-earlier period, which included results from NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics and last year’s Super Bowl. Net income attributable to Comcast increased 8% to $3.83 billion.
Thursday represented the company’s first earnings report under a corporate structure that folded the NBCUniversal businesses into a new “content and experiences” segment. For that group, revenue declined 9.5% to $10.26 billion for the first quarter.
NBCUniversal Chief Jeff Shell’s sudden departure, triggered by a sexual harassment investigation, has shaken parent company Comcast Corp.
“Obviously, a tough moment,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Thursday morning to open the Philadelphia cable and entertainment giant’s first-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
Roberts’ remark at the start of what otherwise would have been an upbeat presentation, trumpeting Comcast’s solid financial performance and the blockbuster start for Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” underscored the company’s embarrassment — and challenges.
Comcast must pick up the pieces after Shell, who had been one of Roberts’ trusted lieutenants for 19 years, hastily departed.
The NBCUniversal chief’s ouster followed the investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime Middle East correspondent for CNBC, Hadley Gamble. The journalist’s attorney in London confirmed earlier this week that Gamble made the harassment report against Shell, which launched the investigation that led to his ouster.
Comcast, in regulatory filings, said it had hired an outside law firm to look into the matter after receiving the complaint that Shell “engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment.” In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, Comcast said: “During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.”
Gamble made the sexual harassment report about a month ago. The company terminated Shell’s contract and does not plan to pay him a severance package, according to people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment.
Comcast Cable President Mike Cavanagh has taken over the leadership of Shell’s senior team.
During Thursday’s call with analysts, Cavanagh suggested that moving on from the Shell scandal should not be too difficult.
The media company includes businesses managed by proven leaders, including at the Universal theme parks; the Los Angeles-based movie studio, which has built its animation business into a juggernaut; the NBC broadcast network and cable channels, including USA, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, and the Peacock streaming service.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” for example, has surpassed $890 million in global box office receipts since its April 5 release. That included $444 million in U.S. ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Job No. 1 for me is to settle things down,” Cavanagh said. “Frankly, I don’t think the business is going to miss a beat.”
Cavanagh, a Comcast veteran for nearly eight years, made it clear that Shell did not run the business by himself.
“The strategies were developed by the entire leadership team,” Cavanagh said. “Brian [Roberts] mentioned what a great a team we have across a diverse collection of businesses — parks, studios, TV, streaming services, news, sports. Strategies are put together by those teams of leaders, obviously, in conjunction with the ultimate leader, and then with Brian and myself. So we’ve been deeply involved for a long, long time.”
He told analysts not to expect a shift in business strategy.
Comcast beat analyst expectations on its first-quarter earnings.
The company generated $29.7 billion revenue, a decline of 4%, because of difficult comparisons with the year-earlier period, which included results from NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics and last year’s Super Bowl. Net income attributable to Comcast increased 8% to $3.83 billion.
Thursday represented the company’s first earnings report under a corporate structure that folded the NBCUniversal businesses into a new “content and experiences” segment. For that group, revenue declined 9.5% to $10.26 billion for the first quarter.
NBCUniversal Chief Jeff Shell’s sudden departure, triggered by a sexual harassment investigation, has shaken parent company Comcast Corp.
“Obviously, a tough moment,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Thursday morning to open the Philadelphia cable and entertainment giant’s first-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
Roberts’ remark at the start of what otherwise would have been an upbeat presentation, trumpeting Comcast’s solid financial performance and the blockbuster start for Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” underscored the company’s embarrassment — and challenges.
Comcast must pick up the pieces after Shell, who had been one of Roberts’ trusted lieutenants for 19 years, hastily departed.
The NBCUniversal chief’s ouster followed the investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime Middle East correspondent for CNBC, Hadley Gamble. The journalist’s attorney in London confirmed earlier this week that Gamble made the harassment report against Shell, which launched the investigation that led to his ouster.
Comcast, in regulatory filings, said it had hired an outside law firm to look into the matter after receiving the complaint that Shell “engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment.” In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, Comcast said: “During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations.”
Gamble made the sexual harassment report about a month ago. The company terminated Shell’s contract and does not plan to pay him a severance package, according to people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment.
Comcast Cable President Mike Cavanagh has taken over the leadership of Shell’s senior team.
During Thursday’s call with analysts, Cavanagh suggested that moving on from the Shell scandal should not be too difficult.
The media company includes businesses managed by proven leaders, including at the Universal theme parks; the Los Angeles-based movie studio, which has built its animation business into a juggernaut; the NBC broadcast network and cable channels, including USA, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, and the Peacock streaming service.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” for example, has surpassed $890 million in global box office receipts since its April 5 release. That included $444 million in U.S. ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Job No. 1 for me is to settle things down,” Cavanagh said. “Frankly, I don’t think the business is going to miss a beat.”
Cavanagh, a Comcast veteran for nearly eight years, made it clear that Shell did not run the business by himself.
“The strategies were developed by the entire leadership team,” Cavanagh said. “Brian [Roberts] mentioned what a great a team we have across a diverse collection of businesses — parks, studios, TV, streaming services, news, sports. Strategies are put together by those teams of leaders, obviously, in conjunction with the ultimate leader, and then with Brian and myself. So we’ve been deeply involved for a long, long time.”
He told analysts not to expect a shift in business strategy.
Comcast beat analyst expectations on its first-quarter earnings.
The company generated $29.7 billion revenue, a decline of 4%, because of difficult comparisons with the year-earlier period, which included results from NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics and last year’s Super Bowl. Net income attributable to Comcast increased 8% to $3.83 billion.
Thursday represented the company’s first earnings report under a corporate structure that folded the NBCUniversal businesses into a new “content and experiences” segment. For that group, revenue declined 9.5% to $10.26 billion for the first quarter.
