NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Tests Positive for Coronavirus
March 26 2020 - 11:40AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell said he has tested
positive for the Covid-19 virus and is recovering at home.
In a Thursday memo to NBCUniversal staff, Mr. Shell wrote,
"although the virus has been tough to cope with, I have managed to
work remotely in LA and am improving every day."
Mr. Shell, who succeeded Steve Burke as chief executive of the
Comcast Corp. unit earlier this year, is the most senior media
executive known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.
NBC News last week lost a longtime staffer to the virus. Audio
technician Larry Edgeworth died from complications related to the
coronavirus last Friday, the network said.
Like other media companies, Comcast Corp. and NBCUniversal have
been hit hard by the virus. NBC and its cable channels are the
television home for the Olympics in the U.S. and the summer games
have been postponed from this July to next year.
With movie theaters closed, NBCU's Universal Pictures' has had
to delay the latest installment of its "Fast and Furious" franchise
to next year. Another movie, the animated film "Trolls World Tour"
will be released directly to video-on-demand starting April 10,
bypassing a theatrical run.
NBCU also closed its theme parks and shut down its TV and movie
productions.
In his memo, Mr. Shell said, "we recognize that a sudden halt to
production creates a significant financial hardship for many. To
that end, we have committed over $150 million across our film,
television and parks businesses to help our employees and other
workers, and to at least partially bridge the period before normal
operations can restart."
Write to Joe Flint at Joe.Flint@WSJ.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2020 12:25 ET (16:25 GMT)
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