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CEO Jeff Zucker leaving NBC following Comcast merger, exit stage left
Comcast's acquisition of NBC isn't quite in the bank just yet, but that doesn't mean the upcoming change isn't already dealing an impact. Current CEO and President Jeff Zucker announced today he plans to leave the company sometime following the takeover -- but also noting his final day might not be for another six months from now. "Comcast will be a great new steward, just as GE has been, and they deserve the chance to implement their own vision," he said. We wonder what exactly that new vision might be and how it pertains to the shift in online offerings -- for his part, Zucker's made a few headlines over the years that seem to suggest hesitation / aversion to the current digital transition. No successor has been named, but again, that could very well be half a year away -- as they say, stay tuned. Update: And now it gets juicy. The New York Times is reporting that Zucker's departure wasn't exactly his call. Interesting, indeed.
NBC's Jeff Zucker talks about Boxee with congress, Boxee talks about The Facts with Jeff Zucker
So, Jeff Zucker of NBC was hanging out his new best friend Brian Roberts from Comcast today, talking up the proposed acquisition in front of Congress. A certain Rep. Rick Boucher asked "what about Boxee?" and things got a little interesting. Jeff says that Boxee was "illegally taking the content that was on Hulu," as opposed to the "many distributors of the Hulu content that we have legal distribution deals with." We're not exactly sure which deals Zucker is referring to, but Boxee's Avner Ronen takes issue with the first point: I'd like to set the record straight regarding Boxee's access to Hulu. Boxee uses a web browser to access Hulu's content – just like Firefox or Internet Explorer. Boxee users click on a link to Hulu's website and the video within that page plays. We don't "take" the video. We don't copy it. We don't put ads on top of it. The video and the ads play like they do on other browsers or on Hulu Desktop. And it certainly is legal to do so. He also takes issue with some of Zucker's other points, pointing out that Hulu dropped Boxee based on a request from NBC, while Zucker calls it a decision by "Hulu management," and he also points out that Boxee hasn't found NBC as open to negotiations as Zucker claims to be, but will be giving it another shot -- perhaps with some of that subscription fee cash mixed in somewhere to sweeten the deal? It's worth watching the short clip on C-Span and reading the entire Boxee rebuttal, even if it won't make you any less angry.
Departing Midway CEO bullish on company outlook
Having to fire a CEO is never a good sign for a company, especially when that company has recently seen massive losses and a board restructuring. But there's still one person willing to defend Midway's business strategy, and that person is, surprisingly enough, departing CEO David Zucker.To be fair, Zucker was interviewed before his replacement by an interim CEO yesterday, but if he saw the writing on the wall he didn't let it show. "We expect to significantly grow our revenues in 2008," Zucker told GamesIndustry.biz last week, adding that naysayers have been predicting the company's demise for "for five years or so." Zucker emphasized that a combination of investment in new technology and established franchises like Mortal Kombat and NFL Blitz will provide the company's saving grace. That might well be true, but any turnaround will unfortunately come too late to be the saving grace for Mr. Zucker.
Midway CEO Zucker departs, company left looking for leadership
We imagine piloting a company like Midway, which has been exhaling money like it was CO2, is not an easy or even enviable task. That's why we can't fault longtime Midway CEO and president David Zucker for donning a life preserver and jumping ship, leaving the company and taking his chances in the murky waters below.In the interim, Midway has put executive Matt Booty in charge until a suitable replacement for Zucker can be found and shackled to the wheel. Says Midway chairman Shari Redstone, the company needs "dynamic new leadership," and that the publisher "has the resources and creative capability to once again be competitive with the best in the videogame business." While we'll believe that when we see it, we'd advise Midway to invest in some new locks -- Zucker's departure marks the third time this year an executive has run out the front door, abandoning the beleaguered company for greener pastures.
Midway loses $100 million to the ether in 2007
This is not going to be pretty. Midway Games, publisher of a bunch of games consumers didn't buy, proved that by announcing it lost $97.4 million in 2007. This isn't anything new for the publisher, which lost $78 million in 2006 and plans to keep hemorrhaging cash this upcoming quarter.Despite the bleak forecast, Midway CEO and president, David F. Zucker, is happy with sales of the company's casual titles and the "eager fan base" of Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3. Zucker believes 2008 will be a better year for Midway with a new "casual games portal," reinvigorated franchises and the release of titles like This is Vegas (starring a look-alike of Attack of the Show's Kevin Pereira). With Atari having its serious course correction, does this make Midway our new Atari?
NBC's Zucker hints at return to iTunes?
After a very public cat-fight resulting in the discontinuation of NBC content on iTunes, the relationship between NBC and Apple seems to be on the mend. Perhaps you recall NBC Universal's CEO, Jeff Zucker, saying that Steve Jobs and iTunes had "destroyed the music business." This in retaliation to Apple's damning press release in which it chided NBC for wanting to more than double the retail price for its per episode downloads, something NBC flatly denied. This morning, the Financial Times is reporting on a kinder and gentler kinship between the media giants. According to the FT, Zucker says, "We've said all along that we admire Apple, that we want to be in business with Apple." He then unexpectedly adds, "We're great fans of Steve Jobs." No telling what has caused the turnabout. Perhaps the writers strike gave both parties time to reflect on their mounting lost revenue. Or maybe it's residual goodwill on the heels of Universal inking an iTunes rental deal. Whatever the case, it will be good to see NBC's content return to iTunes whenever the strike might end.Update: The love-in continues over at BusinessWeek where Jobs comments on the NBC Universal situation saying, "We'll put it back together on the TV thing. Everybody lost. But NBC is a great company, and Apple is a great company." Get a room you two. [Thanks, Bart L. and MJ420]
Jeff Zucker says iTunes deal only netted NBC Universal $15 million
Not that it comes as much of surprise given recent developments, but NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker is clearly still none too pleased about the company's deal with Apple, as evidenced by his recent comments at a benefit for Syracuse University. According to Variety, Zucker lamented the lack of flexibility on pricing, and the fact that NBC U wasn't able to get a cut of Apple's hardware sales, saying that "Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content." He also dropped the bomb that the iTunes deal netted NBC U "just" $15 million in revenue, despite the fact that NBC's programming accounted for 40% of video sales on iTunes. Not coincidentally, all of this comes on the same day that NBC Universal (and its partners) launched the beta version of Hulu.com, which it hopes will provide some competition to iTunes, not to mention be better for its bottom line.
