Bonnie Hammer to Exit NBCU

Bonnie Hammer, vice chairman of NBCUniversal, is planning to leave her post when her contract expires at the end of the year.

Her departure is unrelated to the shakeup announcement last week, whereby Comcast Corporation will create a new business encompassing NBCUniversal’s cable networks, including USA Network and MSNBC, under the leadership of Mark Lazarus.

Hammer is also currently billed as a “strategic advisor” to the company. In her previous role as chairman of the Universal Studio Group, she aligned NBCUniversal’s content business for the global market, bringing together the company’s three studios—Universal Television, UCP and NBCUniversal International Studios—under one umbrella. Prior to her studio remit, Hammer was chairman of direct-to-consumer and digital enterprises, overseeing the creation of the Peacock streaming platform.

Hammer moved to Peacock after serving as chairman of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, where she had executive oversight of leading cable brands USA Network, SYFY, Bravo, Oxygen, E! Entertainment and Universal Kids.

Under her leadership, USA, SYFY and UCP recorded 167 Emmy award nominations and created a slew of hit series, including Suits, Umbrella Academy, TAKEN, Psych, Monk, Mr. Robot, The Sinner, Homecoming, The Act, Dirty John, Battlestar Galactica and more.