Comcast said Friday that it has extended NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke’s employment deal to 2018, raising his annual base salary by 18% and awarding him a $5 million bonus for what it said was his “extraordinary progress” in improving the content giant’s business.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Burke’s annual base salary will rise 18% to $2.6 million from $2.2 million in 2012, effective Sept. 1 and his annual cash bonus opportunity will remain at 300% of base salary (based on the achievement of performance goals). As an inducement and because of his “outstanding work in integrating NBCUniversal and its businesses into Comcast, and making extraordinary progress in improving its businesses and results,” Comcast also granted the executive a $5 million bonus, payable in the form of a $2.5 million credit to his account under our deferred compensation plan and a restricted stock unit grant having a value of $2.5 million that will vest 13 months following the date of grant.
Burke has led NBC Universal since Comcast first acquired control of the programmer in 2010. Under his watch the unit, which includes the NBC broadcast network, theme parks and cable channels like Syfy, CNBC, Bravo and others under its umbrella, has steadily increased its performance. In the second quarter, NBCU reported an 8.9% increase in revenue and a 21% increase in operating cash flow.
