SpinCo, the entity that will house Comcast’s cable network portfolio following its planned spinoff by the end of 2025, has added Matt Hong, Jeff Behnke and Roy Cho to its executive leadership team to oversee its sports and distribution businesses.
Hong will serve as president of sports, overseeing SpinCo’s sports rights portfolio primarily distributed on USA Network and Golf Channel. That portfolio includes NASCAR, WWE, Premier League, the PGA Tour, USGA, The Open Championship and the WNBA. He will report directly to SpinCo CEO Mark Lazarus.
Meanwhile, Behnke will be executive producer and senior vice president of sports production, overseeing day-to-day operations of the sports portfolio and leading all studio and remote productions. Both he and Tom Knapp, who will continue to lead the Golf Channel and Golf Media businesses, will report to Hong.
“As we continue to build a new, modern media company, we’re focused on strengthening our world-class Sports businesses across every platform,” Lazarus said in a Tuesday statement. “With Matt’s experienced leadership and Jeff’s expertise, we will lay the foundation for future growth and an unparalleled connection with our audiences.”
Additionally, Cho will be president of distribution and partnerships, responsible for driving strategic alliances and advancing distribution and monetization opportunities across the company’s portfolioupon completion of the spinoff.He will report to chief revenue and business officer DavePietrycha.
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“Strategic partnerships are critical to how we reach new audiences and unlock long-term value,” Pietrycha added. “With Roy’s deep industry knowledge and proven track record, our businesses will continue to expand their footprint and evolve how we deliver our content to partners and platforms around the world.”
Previously, Hong served as president and chief operating officer of PlayOn!, a leading high school media and technology company that focuses on school athletics. He was also the former COO for Turner Sports, now known as TNT Sports, where he was instrumental in the company’s multi-platform rights agreements with the NCAA and involved in its renewal with the NBA and acquisitions of Bleacher Report and UEFA Champions League rights. In addition to Bleacher report, he oversaw NBA TV, NBA Digital, NCAA Digital, SI Digital, NASCAR.com, PGATour.com, PGA.com and Golf.com.
Behnke, an 11-time Emmy Award-winning producer, joined NBC Sports in 2014 as vice president of Motorsports Production, where he was responsible for production planning and editorial content for the division’s NASCAR coverage, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, SuperMotocross and IMSA. Prior to NBC Sports, Behnke served as executive producer at Turner Sports, overseeing production of the NBA, MLB, NCAA March Madness, NASCAR, the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.
Cho most recently served as AMC Networks’ executive vice president for distribution and development, where he led carriage agreements and bundle and SVOD agreements for AMC+ and the company’s other streaming subscription services. He also drove day-to-day partnerships across all platforms, strategic business development opportunities and contractual compliance and linear operational relationships. Prior to joining AMC Networks, Cho was a corporate M&A and private equity attorney in the New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP.
Following Cho’s departure from AMC Networks, Eric de Cholnoky has been promoted to EVP of distribution and business development for the company. De Cholnoky joined AMC in 2015 as vice president of distribution. In this new position, he will oversee a distribution team that is responsible for representing AMC’s programming and brands to some of its most important and longstanding commercial and distribution partners.
“Eric is a proven leader and terrific colleague. We are thrilled to elevate him into this important role and look forward to his leadership of this highly functioning team,” Kim Kelleher, Chief Commercial Officer for AMC Networks, said in a statement to press. “Thanks also to Roy for his many contributions over the years and during this period of change. We wish him well.”
In addition to USA Network and Golf Channel, the publicly traded entity — which is expected to reach 70 million U.S. households and generate $7 billion in annual revenue — will house CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine.
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