NEW YORK – Comcast Corp. said Wednesday that Kyle McSlarrow, one of the cable industry’s top representatives in Washington, will join the company in early April as president, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Washington, D.C. The move adds an experienced Washington insider to run the company’s public policy operation in the capital.
McSlarrow has served as president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the principal trade group of the U.S. cable industry, since March 2005. The group had said late last year that McSlarrow was looking to transition into an executive position in the industry. His departure from the NCTA opens up another top post at a major industry trade group after the MPAA recently appointed Chris Dodd as its new chairman and CEO.
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In his new Comcast post, McSlarrow will report to the cable giant’s top official overseeing government affairs and public affairs issues, executive vp David Cohen, and will also work closely with Neil Smit, president of Comcast Cable, and Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal, and their senior teams.
McSlarrow will have responsibilities in business operations and public policy in Washington, D.C. He will lead Comcast’s public policy office in the capital, and, on the operations side, help lead product development and customer experience efforts in the Washington metropolitan area customer experience, among other things.
“Kyle has been a tremendous leader and tireless advocate for the cable and media industry in Washington, D.C.,” said Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts. “He is widely respected throughout the industry for his leadership, deep understanding of the cable and programming business, and ability to manage the interest of a broad spectrum of major corporations.”
The NCTA said it will look for a successor.
Prior to joining NCTA, McSlarrow served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and before that was the vp of political and government Affairs for Grassroots.com, a privately-held Internet company marketing web-based political tools.
In the past, he also served as national chairman for the Quayle 2000 presidential campaign and deputy chief of staff and chief counsel for Senate majority leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott, among others.
