As reported last week, NBCUniversal has added E. McRae “Mac” Budill to its executive distribution team.
Budill will serve as president of NBCUniversal TV Networks Distribution. Budill, the longtime Cablevision veteran who most recently worked as executive vice president of programming for the MSO, will report to Matt Bond, executive vice president, content distribution, NBCUniversal.
Budill moves into the role that has been held by Bridget Baker, who is stepping down from her post at the end of November.
The move for Baker, a founder of CNBC who spent her career at NBCU and is credited with developing the company's cable assets from inception, comes nearly two years after NBCU announced a new executive structure ahead of Comcast's acquisition ot the programmer in January 2011.
When he assumes his new role in the coming weeks, Budill will oversee the strategic direction of the company’s network portfolio, including the sales and distribution relationships for NBCUniversal's broadcast and cable multichannel distribution partners, as well as manage marketing and communications.
NBCUniversal’s broad content portfolio comprises cable networks USA, Bravo Media, Cloo, Chiller, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen Media, Sprout, Style Media, Syfy, and The Golf Channel. In addition, Budill will have affiliate responsibilties for network-owned NBC and Telemundo stations, Olympic content on cable and broadband, and on-demand and set-top box content.
"We are pleased to welcome Mac to the team,” said Bond in a statement. “Given the growing complexity of the business, his leadership and expertise will be a great addition to our seasoned group and will help us demonstrate the value of our portfolio and serve the evolving needs of our customers.”
At Cablevision, Budill was responsible for leading all content acquisition activities for the business. Now, he joins Bond’s team on the opposite of the negotiation table. Until recently, Budill served on the board of directors of the National Cable Television Cooperative.
In a statement Monday, Cablevision said: "We would like to thank Mac Budill for his contributions to Cablevision over many years and wish him well in the future." The company had no word on a possible replacement. Budill's longtime lieutenant at Cablevision is Tom Montemagno, senior vice president of programming acquisition.
Prior to Cablevision, Budill served as a consultant for Bain & Co., where he focused on strategic, operational and organizational problem-solving.
