Jeff Zucker’s survival skills are being tested yet again.
News of Comcast’s pending deal to take control of NBC Universal has the entertainment industry’s chattering classes wondering if Zucker’s meteoric rise to the top of NBCU is over — or if there will be a role for him in a new entity.
Sources with knowledge of the situation said talks between Comcast and NBCU parent company General Electric have not addressed management succession, and cautioned that a potential deal could still fall apart. But based on how NBCU has performed recently, the bet is that if a deal gets done, Zucker, 44, will be spending more time on the squash courts than in the boardroom.
“No one at Comcast is too enamored with Jeff,” said one source close to the cable giant. “He’s not a movie guy, doesn’t run broadcast television very successfully and NBCU already has a lot of high-powered people on the cable side without him.”
According to this source, Comcast is more likely to keep around Universal Studios boss Ron Meyer and NBCU executives like Jeff Gaspin and Lauren Zalaznick than Zucker.
A second source close to NBCU pointed to the steadily declining ratings for “The Jay Leno Show” and the “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” as evidence that Zucker won’t survive the transition.
“His genius idea performs worse week after week,” the source said.
Representatives for both companies declined comment.
Sources said that Comcast Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke could be tapped to run the new entity. Comcast had planned to put him in charge of Disney had its bid for the Mouse House been successful in 2004. Burke has experience running a broadcast network and theme parks, having led ABC and Euro Disney during a 12-year stint at Disney before joining Comcast.
“Burke’s been offered every job in the business and hasn’t left Comcast because [CEO Brian] Roberts told him that if he stayed he’d buy something and let him run it,” the second source said.
Another source downplayed the idea of Burke running NBCU, noting that such a move would be a step down from his current perch as second-in-command at one of the largest media companies in the world.
Moreover, according to Soleil Media Metrics analyst Laura Martin, “No one at Comcast is qualified to run content assets in our view.
“Wall Street wants to see a manager in charge of the new entity that has a long track record of creating value in content businesses,” she said.
Martin said former News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin would be the perfect choice to run the new entity given that he ran virtually the same operating segment while at News Corp. (News Corp. owns The Post.)
Other candidates include Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin and, in a twist sure to displease Zucker, CBS boss Les Moonves.
There are those, however, who think Zucker shouldn’t be counted out so quickly. He’s nothing if not a survivor, having beaten cancer not once, but twice. And while other executives have been pushed out of NBCU for poor performance, Zucker has managed to not only keep his job, but also get consistently promoted.
“Zucker is wildly ambitious, and his skills are complementary to what Comcast has there,” said a third source close to both companies. “You can argue with how he’s done it, but he’s also proven he can grow the bottom line.”
Added another source: “Nothing’s been decided, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Zucker survives this as well.”