One week to the day after NBC Sports Group Chairman Dick Ebersol announced his resignation, longtime colleague and NBC Sports Group President Ken Schanzer is following suit.
After thirteen years as president of NBC Sports, Schanzer has announced his retirement effective at the end of this summer.
Though not as well known to the public as Ebersol, Schanzer was the lead negotiator for NBC Sports Group, having aided the network in recent rights negotiations involving the NFL and NHL, among others.
Schanzer’s depature comes exactly one week after NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol announced his resignation.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times wrote that Schanzer’s then-rumored departure would “not [be] a surprise given how close he is to Ebersol and that he had been hinting at retiring for the last few years” (latimes.com, 5/25).
This latest departure continues a run of upheaval for both NBC Sports and Comcast since the latter acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal earlier this year. In the immediate wake of the deal, a flurry of Comcast executives were ousted in favor of NBC Sports counterparts. Now, the two biggest names at NBC Sports are on their way out as well.
(Information from NBC Sports Group, via Fang’s Bites; Los Angeles Times)
