NBCUniversal Vice Chair Bonnie Hammer to Exit at the End of the Year
NBCUniversal vice chair Bonnie Hammer is set to exit her role at the end of the year following the expiration of her current contract, an individual familiar with the matter tells TheWrap.
The decision to depart is hers, the individual said, and is unrelated to parent company Comcast’s recent announcement that it will spin off its cable network portfolio.
Hammer, who has over 40 years of experience in the television business, has had a hand in shows including “Suits,” “Umbrella Academy,” “Taken,” “Psych,” “Monk,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Sinner,” “Homecoming,” “The Act,” “Dirty John” and “Battlestar Galactica.”
The executive has served as vice chairman since 2020. Prior to taking on the role, she served as Universal Studio Group chairman, where she was responsible for bringing together Universal Television, UCP and NBCUniversal International Studios under one umbrella.
Before having purview over the studio, she served as direct-to-consumer and digital enterprises chairman, overseeing the creation of NBCU’s streaming service Peacock, which has grown to a total of 36 million paid subscribers as of the end of Comcast’s third quarter of 2024.
She joined Peacock after serving as chairman of NBCU Cable Entertainment starting in 2008, where she had oversight of brands including USA Network, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen and E! Entertainment. Collectively, NBCU’s cable network portfolio generated around $7 billion in revenue for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2024.
Hammer first joined Universal Television as a programming executive in 1989 and would stay on through the company’s merger with NBC in 2004. At Universal Television, she oversaw the launch of Sci-Fi Channel, and would oversee it as well as USA as president following the NBC merger.
During her tenure at USA, the network was the most-watched entertainment cable channel for a record-setting 13 consecutive years. As her portfolio grew, Hammer developed Syfy into a global brand by extending its reach to 116 countries worldwide, guided Bravo to become a Top 5 cable network and directed the growth, both domestically and internationally, for E! Entertainment. She also created and oversaw two award-winning production studios, UCP and Wilshire Studios, as well as the digital business Bluprint.
Before that, she was an original programming executive at Lifetime Television Network, where she executive produced several award-winning documentaries for the network’s acclaimed Signature Series. She also executive produced WCVB Boston’s “Good Day!” and worked on the series “This Old House,” “Infinity Factory” and “Zoom!” for PBS.
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