Telemundo’s coverage of the ’18 FIFA World Cup will have a distinctly Olympic feel next year, as NBC Sports Group is putting its top Olympic producer in charge of the Spanish-language channel’s production. JIM BELL will be the Exec Producer on the event as part of a promotion that gives him the title of President of NBC Olympics Production & Programming and Executive Producer, Telemundo World Cup. NBC Broadcasting & Sports Chair MARK LAZARUS made the announcement this morning as part of an internal memo that documented three other senior-level promotions in the sports group. Lazarus promoted GARY ZENKEL to President of NBC Olympics & Business, which puts the longtime Olympics exec in charge of the group’s rights acquisitions strategy and negotiations for the sports group. Zenkel also will oversee the Olympic Channel’s business. SAM FLOOD was promoted to Exec Producer & President of Production at NBC and NBCSN. DAVE PIETRYCHA was promoted to CFO & Senior VP for NBC Sports Group, a role that puts him over the sports division’s research department. NBC Sports Group Senior VP/Research JOE BROWN now reports to Pietrycha. The moves come four months after NBC promoted Lazarus beyond sports to oversee NBCU-owned TV Stations, NBC Affiliate Relations, NBC Affiliate Marketing, NBC Network Operations & Broadcast Standards.
