Longtime programming exec Bill McGoldrick is leaving NBCUniversal after spending the better part of more than 20 years at the company and its predecessors.
McGoldrick’s departure comes amid a restructuring of NBCUniversal’s television and streaming content teams under new programming chief Susan Rovner, who on Tuesday unveiled her new leadership team. In his own memo to staff, McGoldrick wrote, “As we all know, the industry is changing rapidly and our company is transforming in ways that will undoubtedly allow it to continue to thrive, grow and succeed. That said, it has become clear that there simply isn’t an appropriate role for me in the new structure.”
Most recently, McGoldrick served as head of programming for Peacock, the NBCU direct-to-consumer streaming service that launched earlier this year. Under a broader restructuring that began in August, NBCU has been combining its programming operations for streaming, broadcasting and cable.
McGoldrick’s departure follows those of other high-profile NBCUniversal execs such as Tracey Pakosta, who was named head of comedy at Netflix on Monday, and Chris McCumber.
McGoldrick for the last year served as head of content for Peacock, having previously been president of scripted for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and unscripted for USA and Syfy. He was exec VP of original content for USA and Syfy from 2013 to 2018.
Read McGoldrick’s full memo to staff below:
Team:
I wish we were all together so I could tell you in person, but I wanted you to be among the first to hear that I will be leaving NBCUniversal. As we all know, the industry is changing rapidly and our company is transforming in ways that will undoubtedly allow it to continue to thrive, grow and succeed. That said, it has become clear that there simply isn’t an appropriate role for me in the new structure.
Working with this team has been the best experience of my career. I’m proud of all the creators we supported and all the risks we took together. Many creators sold their first project to us, experienced their first series greenlight, or their first Emmy or Golden Globe! Your commitment to every project, to your studio partners—and most importantly, to each other — was inspiring to watch every day.
NBCUniversal and the vast pool of outstanding leaders across the company I’ve both learned from and collaborated with, like Bonnie Hammer and more recently Matt Strauss, have shaped me and my career in ways I could not have imagined when I first joined. Because of them, I feel more than prepared for all the new and exciting challenges to come.
Knowing you all as well as I do, I promise that none of you have reached your full potential in this company or the industry. This year has been challenging in many ways, but I believe wholeheartedly that each of you will come out even stronger on the other side.
You’re in very good hands with Susan Rovner. I’ve known and admired her for a very long time, and know that she will take the business to new heights and that you will all benefit from her energetic leadership.
Thank you for being the best colleagues, collaborators and friends I could ask for.
-Bill