
Earlier today, NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker sent out a 'team update' memo about the upcoming transition... but as it's in that same gooblety gook speak that the corporate suits like to talk in, I've gone ahead and de-coded it for you.. Enjoy! (thanks to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood for posting the original letter)
From: Jeff Zucker (NBC Universal)
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:53 AM
To: NBC Universal Employee Communications (NBC Universal)
Subject: NBCU/Comcast Transition Team Update
As you probably know, we have a Comcast-NBCU team working together on the transition process. Yesterday, we brought together about 120 people from both companies who will be working on the transition to talk about our vision for the New NBCU, our approach to the effort, and the teams’ plans.
TRANSLATION: There are 120 people who got to bitch about
NBCU and have a kick ass meal on the company’s dime.
Our Vision
Our vision is to create the best entertainment, sports, news and information company in the world. We are proud of the rich histories of NBC, Universal and Comcast and together we want to grow our content and create new ways for consumers to experience it anytime, anywhere. We are interested in long-term value creation and will not shy away from risks or investment to achieve it.
TRANSLATION: We are looking to see how much we can charge
for HULU and downloadable programming to your phone and how we can best move
the little that is working on the network to a pay cable channel. Also: We are
interested in long term value creation – unless value equals quality and a 20
year relationship, and then we’re not much interested. We will not shy away
from risks as long as we can fire someone and blame them for failure.
Our Approach to the Overall Transition
After close, NBCU will operate as a separate company that will be consolidated with Comcast, but not integrated into Comcast. We believe decentralized decision making is the best road to success. We will all be part of the same Comcast family and one of our goals is to have content and distribution work together to create new options for consumers that benefit the entire organization. We expect every part of the company to have the highest ethical standards, treat people with respect, and communicate honestly about business challenges.
TRANSLATION: Comcast is already leery of being associated
with us after the recent debacle, so they’re keeping us at arm’s length until
they can figure out which ofus in the family is the breadwinner and which of us
is the smelly uncle that no one wants to talk to.
Our Approach to Integrating Comcast’s Content Assets with NBCU
We plan to create one “integrated” NBCU content company post-close. The Comcast programming, sports and digital assets will be fully integrated into the new NBCU and those employees will become part of this new content company. Our approach will be objective and fact-based – we’ll gather facts and learn about each others’ organizations, focus on the right long-term solutions, determine the best structural options before tackling staffing, and then endeavor to ensure that great people have great opportunities. As the larger content organization, NBCU will tend to lead much of the work.
TRANSLATION: We’re producing content for pay channels on
Comcast.
A Unique Opportunity to Get this Right
While we recognize that transactions create uncertainty, they also provide unique opportunities to rethink how we do business and how to win in the future. We are excited about the opportunities in front of us and we want to make sure our approach sets us up for long-term success. We want to be deliberate, thoughtful and practical in our decision-making.
TRANSLATION: Some of you are worried for your jobs and
with good reason. This is a merger and we don’t need one assistant for every
suit.. one assistant for six or seven will be sufficient. Where do you think
you work? Disney in the 90s?
Two Teams to Lead the Effort
We’ve divided the work into two. The Operations team will identify growth opportunities across both organizations, determine business priorities and focus, and ultimately recommend organizational structures. The Administrative team will plan how we put in place the right infrastructure (HR, Finance, IT, Legal, Real Estate, etc.) to support a transition of NBCU from GE to Comcast and support the integration of Comcast’s and NBCU’s content assets. Salil Mehta from NBCU, working with Joe Donnelly from Comcast, will lead the Operations team. Bob Victor from Comcast, working with John Eck from NBCU, will lead the Administration team.
TRANSLATION: Here are the people that you need to know.
Checks insuring your continued work can be made out to them although cash is
nice too. When someone who reports to them asks you into their office, swipe
the nice pens before you go because there won’t be much time for blue collar
crime later as we are reviewing exactly how quickly we can escort excess
baggage from the building.
Expectations around Timing
We expect the regulatory approval process will take 9 to 12 months. During this time, both companies must continue to run as independent entities. Therefore, the implementation of our plans cannot start until the transaction closes. This creates uncertainty, but it also gives us time to get our planning right. Accordingly, we do not expect to begin making significant structural and post-close staffing decisions until summer at the earliest. While as the larger organization, NBCU will be leading much of the content integration work, we will take a thoughtful and informed approach to staffing decisions. We are also committed to making the new NBCU organization the best place for great people to work in the industry.
TRANSLATION: We’re giving you advance warning to call your doctor for
Wellbutrin now as you are in for a long and bumpy ride while the company shakes
out from failed projects, Conan’s buyout and the Comast merger. Seriously, you
will probably be fired but we’ll enjoy watching you scramble even though we
already know who is getting the axe. Happy 2010!