Losing Another Key Piece

Schanzer was a close confidant of Ebersol's during his time with NBC Sports

NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer announced his retirement to his staff this morning, writing in a memo to his department, "For those of you who've heard this before -- this time it's for real." The longtime NBC exec said he had come close to retiring twice before, in November '08 and July '10. Both times Dick Ebersol convinced him to stay. "I stayed because Dick asked me to stay," he said. "When Dick left and Mark took over, I felt that it was an appropriate time." Schanzer has agreed to remain at the network through the summer to ease the transition to Mark Lazarus, who took over as NBC Sports Group Chair last week after Ebersol resigned.