(L-R) Michael Cavanagh, then-chief financial officer of Comcast, talks with Brian Roberts, chief executive officer of Comcast, as they arrive for the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 9, 2019 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Comcast announced Monday it’s named Mike Cavanagh as co-CEO alongside longtime leader Brian Roberts, starting in January.
Cavanagh, who currently serves as president, will also be named to the Comcast board of directors at that time. Roberts will remain as chairman and co-CEO of the company.
“Since joining Comcast a decade ago, Mike has proven himself to be a trusted and collaborative leader,” Roberts said in a statement. “He is the ideal person to help lead Comcast as we manage the pivot we are making to drive growth across the company. Mike and I work seamlessly together, and I am thrilled to be partnering with him as Co-CEO and with the rest of our talented management team, for years to come.”
Cavanagh previously served as chief financial officer of the cable giant, which consists of a broadband, cable TV and mobile company as well as NBCUniversal. Prior to Comcast, Cavanagh was co-CEO of JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank.
“Comcast is a special company with exceptional businesses and an incredible team. It is an honor to work with Brian and the entire Comcast NBCUniversal leadership team during this exciting and transformative time in our industry,” Cavanagh said in a statement.
Comcast shares were flat in premarket trading Monday following the announcement. Shares are down about 15% so far this year. During Cavanagh’s tenure as president, from October 2022 to today, Comcast shares have gained about 9%.
Cavanagh has long been considered heir apparent to Roberts by industry insiders, CNBC reported this year.
In 2022 he was promoted to president of Comcast and months later his role expanded when Jeff Shell exited his role as CEO of NBCUniversal. Cavanagh took over direct leadership of the company’s TV, film and theme park units, although was never officially named CEO of that unit.
Since then he has embedded in the NBCUniversal business and has overseen a number of changes at the division, including a restructuring and most notably NBCUniversal’s spin out of its cable TV networks, including CNBC, MSNBC and the Golf Channel.
The company’s new corporate leadership structure mirrors that of Netflix, the runaway leader in streaming.
Finance to the fore
Netflix in 2023 promoted Greg Peters, previously the company’s chief operating officer, to co-CEO alongside Ted Sarandos after Reed Hastings announced he would step back. Sarandos has long been in charge of content, while Peters’ focus had been centered on growing Netflix beyond DVDs and into streaming, expanding partnerships and increasing the international footprint — all of which have been key to the streaming giant’s growth.
Netflix’s disruption of the media business has helped to shift the industry toward a new crop of finance- and operations-minded leaders at the top of entertainment companies.
Warner Bros. Discovery said earlier this year it would split into two businesses — Warner Bros., made up of the streaming platform and studios, and Discovery Global, the TV networks business. Gunnar Wiedenfels, the CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is slated to take over as CEO Of Discovery Global after the split.
Comcast’s businesses, meanwhile, has been faced with various headwinds in recent years.
Pressures on broadband have ramped up following a period of gangbuster growth due to increased competition from alternative providers, such as 5G or so-called fixed wireless. In turn, Comcast and its peers have suffered from a slowdown in subscriber growth.
In July, Comcast reported a loss of 226,000 total domestic broadband customers despite a shift in market strategy earlier this year, which included new pricing.
Comcast will report its next quarterly earnings on Oct. 30.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
