NBC Universal splits Beth Comstock in three

BY SDH Following the announcement that NBC Universal’s President of integrated media Beth Comstock will head back to parent company GE to take on a broader marketing and digital media roll, or so it is designed to look, NBC Universal has decided to split her duties among three execs that are probably lacking even more than Comstock in the digital media arena. Salil Mehta, president, business operations, strategy and development, hover over the Digital Media team. Mike Pilot, president, sales and marketing, watch the company's research department, and Jeff Gaspin, president of the Universal Television Group, will take on interim responsibility for iVillage, the Web site, and oversight of a newly created virtual women's network. So what’s the deal with this new arrangement? Why didn’t NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker put the word out for a new digital head to come in and get the ball rolling in the right direction? Is because Zucker never saw the need for a Beth Comstock? Zucker may be making a mistake splitting these duties among three execs. With digital being the trend among traditional media companies, any and all things digital should fall under one head. This can be taken as NBC Universal not being sure about how to approach the digital door. With Jeff Gaspin only having temporary oversight of iVillage, is NBC Uni planning to break iVillage away from the pack it was a part of under Comstock? Why not just throw all of the above under Gaspin and put Mark Hoffman over cable?