Versant, the cable networks-focused company being spun out of Comcast in the coming months, has hired long-time NBC Universal executive Amrei Wolfschuetz to oversee the venture’s content distribution partnerships, The Desk has learned.
Wolfschuetz was hired by Versant to the role of Vice President of Sales and Partnerships last month. She will be responsible for overseeing transactions related to Versant’s cable and satellite TV distribution deals, as well as partnerships with ad-supported streaming platforms.
Wolfschuetz will also explore new ways to grow Versant’s opportunities beyond traditional cable TV, to include leveraging the company’s networks intellectual properties in digital commerce, publishing and audio.
Once the spin-off is complete, Versant will consist of Comcast’s core cable networks — USA Network, E!, Syfy, CNBC, MSNBC, the Golf Channel and Oxygen. Bravo is the sole cable network being retained by NBC Universal, a move intended to help bolster Comcast’s streaming service Peacock, which is heavily reliant on Bravo’s reality-based programming.
Wolfschuetz is no stranger to Comcast’s cable networks: She joined the company in 2006, serving as a senior regional manager within the Comcast Networks part of the business. Later, as regional director, Wolfschuetz was in charge of making sure Comcast’s cable networks were hitting certain subscriber and revenue goals. She was also responsible for ensuring Comcast’s cable networks were widely distributed, in standard definition and high definition, on non-Comcast regional cable outlets, and she helped Comcast grow its dynamic ad insertion business that allowed the company to generate revenue from advertisements when its cable networks were distributed on other platforms.
Three years after Comcast acquired NBC Universal, Wolfschuetz moved over to the latter, becoming the Senior Manager of TV Networks Distribution. In that role, Wolfschuetz was tasked with ensuring Comcast received the best deal for the distribution of key networks like MSNBC, CNBC and the Golf Channel on cable networks outside the United States. Her responsibilities also included distribution deals for several now-defunct channels, including G4, Esquire Network and NBC Sports Network.
Over the past two years, Wolfschuetz worked as the Vice President of Content Distribution at NBC Universal, overseeing many of the same cable and satellite deals that she helped forge throughout her career. Over time, that responsibility has expanded to include deals involving streaming cable-like platforms like YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo, Sling TV and DirecTV Stream.
