SpinCo announces more C-suite appointments

Mark Lazarus, the prospective chief executive officer of the so-called “SpinCo,” Comcast’s planned spin-off of select cable television networks that has yet to receive an official name, has announced additional appointments to the future senior leadership team of SpinCo.

SpinCo will be a leading independent publicly traded media company comprised of USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. The team, which will be led by Lazarus and Anand Kini, prospective chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

Appointments to the SpinCo leadership team include Val Boreland as president of entertainment, Keith Cocozza as chief communications officer, Brian Dorfler as chief human resources officer, Jeff Mayzurk as president of operations and technology, Kristin Newkirk as chief financial officer for the TV networks unit, David Pietrycha as chief revenue and business officer and Greg Wright as chief accounting officer and controller

There will be additional executive announcements in the coming weeks as the company continues to build out the management team.

“As we embark on this journey to build a one-of-a-kind company, I am thrilled to be joined by such a talented group of leaders with the experience and expertise needed to make SpinCo a leading multimedia company from day one,” said Lazarus in a statement. “Together, we will capitalize upon our iconic media assets, chart a course for growth and continue to attract additional talent as we build momentum toward the completion of the spin-off.”

Anand Kini added, “This team was handpicked because of their expertise within each of their function areas. I am confident that with and under the leadership of Mark, we will design and build a modern media company with the scale to compete and the right strategy to unlock organic and external growth opportunities.”

Upon completion of the spin-off from Comcast Corp., SpinCo will be ideally positioned to provide a diverse and differentiated content offering with live news, sports and entertainment at the centerpiece of its brand-based growth strategy, according to its announcement. The assets making up SpinCo generate approximately $7 billion in revenue annually and will be focused on growing their beloved brands, building audience and expanding monetization.

Comcast pursued the strategy of spinning off most of its cable and digital properties as a way to separate the cable unit financials as the cable industry continues to evolve as streaming continues to rise, which has eroded the networks’ carriage fee revenue. This has also caused ratings to drop. MSNBC, in particular, has seen even more significant ratings declines after the 2024 election.

Advertisement

SpinCo will be initially owned by Comcast as a separate entity, but spinning it off also sets the stage for all or part of it to be acquired by other companies.

NBCU is holding on to Bravo and its Peacock streamer, however. No announcement has been made about how operations such as MSNBC and CNBC, which draw on the resources of NBC News (or Golf Channel’s use of NBC Sports), might be handled once the two divisions belong to separate companies.