The woman who helped build cable's USA into the set-top-box powerhouse that it is today is setting her sights on other media fiefdoms.
When Comcast took over a controlling interest in NBC Universal, Bonnie Hammer, chairman-NBCU Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios, found her responsibilities greatly augmented. In addition to USA, SyFy and other properties, she now has two more channels -- E! and G4 -- from the Comcast side of the equation in her portfolio. Advertisers will be watching to see if she can do for those networks what she has done for others under her purview.
At present, she said, E! is known for news and reality programming and celebrity buzz, but "it's not really tied together, and doesn't have that crisp definition" that some other networks do. Under her aegis, she suggested, that 's about to change. "E! will have that advantage of a very specific and well-defined brand filter."
Ms. Hammer's plans are not to be dismissed. The casual observer may be shocked to realize that USA may now carry more importance to NBC Universal than its flagship broadcast network. (With its nearly $1.1 billion in ad revenue in 2010, USA brought in more ad dollars than the CW.)
While broadcast needs to play to the biggest crowd possible, cable outlets need to chase a distinctive but broad niche, then dominate it. That's where Ms. Hammer, 60, comes in. "What I tend to bring to something, that 's helping people to come to a really sharp focus of who they are, where they are and where they can get to."