NBCUniversal boss Steve Burke anointed Bonnie Hammer his cable queen.
Hammer yesterday solidified her grip on NBCU’s cable-TV empire in a management shake-up that also saw her closest rival, Lauren Zalaznick, stripped of her cable powers.
Burke handed Hammer control over women-focused channels Bravo, Oxygen and Style — properties that were overseen by Zalaznick — in addition USA, Sci-Fi, E! and a handful of other channels.
Zalaznick was put in charge of NBCU’s digital initiatives and will continue to oversee online properties including Fandango and Daily Candy.
Charles Trainor/Bravo
A scene from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami”
As part of the restructuring, NBCU put Joe Uva, the former CEO of Univision, in charge of its Spanish-language channel Telemundo, which was also overseen by Zalaznick.
While Zalaznick’s new role was widely seen as a demotion, NBCU portrayed her as having executive parity with Hammer. Zalaznick, for instance, will get an office next door to Burke. All three executives will report to Burke.
“Lauren is being promoted to a new role in which she will be responsible for harnessing the power of the NBCUniversal content portfolio to drive revenue across the company, including TV Everywhere and alternative windowing strategies,” Burke said yesterday in an memo.
The Post first reported the cable reshuffling yesterday on its website.
After Comcast completed its takeover two years ago, Burke carved up the media giant’s cable empire, giving each woman her own channel portfolio.
But the separate fiefdoms created additional overhead and competition for ad dollars, sources told The Post.
Hammer was said to have been fed up with the current structure and made a play for the whole portfolio as part of her recent contract negotiations, sources said.
Burke had considered removing Telemundo from Zalaznick’s purview a few months ago, according to sources,
Uva, the new chairman of Hispanic Enterprises, will be tasked with boosting affiliate and ad rates for Telemundo, which has historically lagged Univision.
Ironically, Univision is now run by ex-NBCU President Randy Falco.
Exiting NBCU with no immediate position is Salil Mehta, sources said.
Mehta, a lieutenant of former NBCU chief Jeff Zucker, had reported to Zalaznick and was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at NBC Universal Entertainment and Digital.
Mehta follows a handful of top executives out the door, most recently NBC News boss Steve Capus, who announced his exit last week.
Hammer has her work cut out for her, as the cable assets — which account for 50 percent of the media giant’s cash flow — did not have a great 2012.
The cable channels saw an 8 percent dip in the 25-to-54 year old demographic during primetime.
NBCSports cable network fell 22 percent during an Olympic year, while cash cow USA was down 13 percent.
Comcast, which owns 51 percent of NBCU, reports fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Feb. 13.
catkinson@nypost.com
