Lauren Zalaznick, whose leadership at Bravo turned that cable network into a lucrative asset for its parent, NBCUniversal, is leaving the company, Steve Burke, the chief executive of NBCUniversal, told the staff in a memo released on Friday.
Because Ms. Zalaznick had already been moved away from control of Bravo and several other divisions she had led, including Oxygen, the Style network and Telemundo, to an amorphous position overseeing new business opportunities, mainly on the digital side, her departure was not seen as surprise inside the company.
NBC’s decision to release the news not in an official announcement but rather through a memo — and on a Friday afternoon — signaled the company’s desire to simply move on without calling undue attention to Ms. Zalaznick’s departure.
In his memo, Mr. Burke merely mentioned Ms. Zalaznick’s leaving and praised her contributions. No reason for her departure was included. But longtime NBC executives — who insisted on not being identified because the memo was intended to be the only company comment on the move — suggested that the departure was a result of an internal power struggle with NBCUniversal’s other top cable entertainment executive, Bonnie Hammer.
In February, Mr. Burke promoted Ms. Hammer to a position overseeing all NBC cable entertainment properties, including those previously led by Ms. Zalaznick.
The new role assigned to Ms. Zalaznick never seemed a perfect fit, several executives who worked with her said, because her strengths were on the operational side of the business, running entertainment networks, with an emphasis on quirky, creative ideas.
Those served her extremely well at Bravo, which she turned into a center for pop-culture programming, identifying and marketing hits like “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” and the many iterations of “Real Housewives.”
Ms. Zalaznick offered no comment. Nor was any mention made of her specific plans for the future. But one senior NBC executive, who has worked with Ms. Zalaznick, described her as upbeat about future moves. “She will pop up somewhere,” the executive said. “And it will be in an operational job that has something to do with pop culture. That’s where she shines.”
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/business/media/zalaznick-once-a-programming-force-at-nbcuniversal-is-leaving.html?partner=rss&emc=rss