NBCU's Digital Chief Resigns
George Kliavkoff, Who Led Development of Hulu, to Leave At Year’s End
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 11/4/2008 5:31:00 AM
NBC Universal chief digital officer George Kliavkoff will leave the company at the end of the year, telling colleagues in an internal memo that "I think much of my work here is done and I’m looking forward to other challenges."
No replacement has been named for Kliavkoff.
Kliavkoff joined NBCU in August 2006, after serving as senior vice president of business development for Major League Baseball Advance Media unit. Prior to MLBAM, he headed the business development group for RealNetworks' consumer division.
At NBCU, Kliavkoff led the formation of the online-video joint venture with News Corp., which would later launch as Hulu. Kliavkoff served as interim CEO before Hulu hired former Amazon.com executive Jason Kilar.
"George came to NBC Universal when we were nowhere in digital," NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker said, in a statement. "We asked him to help us change the fundamental orientation of a traditional media company from an analog to a digital mindset. George did that, and did an outstanding job job for us."
In a memo Kliavkoff sent Monday to NBCU colleagues, a copy of which was provided to Multichannel News, he said he has exercised an option in his contract to leave at the end of the year but will "remain available to Jeff Zucker and the rest of the team during and after the transition."
"I believe in my heart that this is a best time to start, run or invest in digital companies and I am very excited about moving on to my next challenge," Kliavkoff wrote.
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