MEYER KEEPS HIS ROLE AT UNIVERSAL PRESIDENT AND COO SIGNS A NEW FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer UNIVERSAL CITY - Ron Meyer Ron Meyer (born February 17, 1941) is a former college and professional football coach. He is best known for being the head coach of the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Meyer's head coaching career began at UNLV, where he coached from 1971 to 1975. signed a new five-year contract to continue as president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of Universal Studios, NBC Universal NBC Universal is a media and entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment (part of the French Media Group, Vivendi SA). GE owns 80% of NBC Universal with the remaining 20% owned by Vivendi SA. announced Monday. Meyer, who leads the studios' motion picture, parks and resorts and studio operations, had already been in his current position for a nearly a decade when General Electric purchased Universal last year and merged it with NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. media properties. ``Having been at Universal for ten years and witnessed a great deal of change, I am very excited with how well NBC and Universal have integrated their cultures and with the many unique business opportunities this combination continues to produce,'' Meyer said in a statement. Bob Wright, NBC Universal's chairman and chief executive officer, described Meyer as ``an astute and highly-regarded leader.'' ``Ron's unfailing stewardship during his decade as Universal Studios' President and Chief Operating Officer matched with his insight into our industry has made him an invaluable executive in this ever-evolving media landscape,'' Wright said in a statement. The company's film studio has had a mixed year, which began with stunning box office receipts for the comedy ``Meet the Fockers'' ($279.3 million domestically) but has suffered in recent months through a string of commercial disappointments including ``Cinderella Man,'' ``Land of the Dead,'' ``Kicking and Screaming'' and ``The Perfect Man.'' The NBC broadcast network continues to rule in the ratings both in the morning with ``The Today Show'' and in late night with ``The Tonight Show'' but has had trouble in prime time, where it suffered a 17 percent decline in ratings. Last week during its second-quarter conference call, GE reported that overall profit at NBC Universal rose 27 percent to $979 million. But without the inclusion of Universal and its strong DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. numbers and cable channels, NBC's profits would have only been up by 4 percent. Prior to joining Universal, Meyer was president of Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a talent and literary agency which represents a vast array of actors, musicians, writers, directors, and athletes, as well as a variety of companies and their products. , Inc., which he founded in 1975 with four fellow agents from the William Morris Agency Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency is the largest diversified talent and literary agency in the world, with offices in New York City, Beverly Hills, Nashville, Miami, London, and Shanghai. , where he had been a television agent. Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com |
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