Comcast hires Charter Chief Smit to run cable unit

Comcast Corp, preparing to expand in programming by taking control of NBC Universal, hired Charter Communications Inc’s top executive Neil Smit to oversee its cable-distribution business. Smit will join Philadelphia-based Comcast as president of a unit that generates about 95 per cent of the company’s sales. He will report to Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke, Comcast, the largest US cable operator, said today in a statement. The move lets Burke hand over day-to-day management of the distribution unit to Smit and allows him focus on the integration of Comcast’s pending majority ownership in General Electric Co’s NBC Universal. NBC Universal, run by Jeffrey Zucker, posted a 30 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit today and is dealing with the shakeup of late-night-show hosts, which cost the network $45m. Zucker will also report to Burke.