Huntsberry to Head Universal Pictures for Now

Frederick Huntsberry, executive vice president and chief financial officer of NBC Universal Television Group, will serve as interim president and chief operating officer of Universal Pictures while Rick Finkelstein recovers from a skiing accident he suffered over the holidays, according to NBC U.

Huntsberry will continue to oversee the company’s syndication division and will report jointly to Universal Pictures Chairman Stacey Snider and NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker.

In his interim role, Huntsberry assumes responsibility for Universal Pictures Television Distribution, business development and strategic planning, and technology and music operations.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment, led by Craig Kornblau, and International Video, led by Pete Smith, will report to Huntsberry.

Prior to his current position, Huntsberry served as chief financial officer of Vivendi Universal Entertainment and before that, of Universal Pictures.

For now, Huntsberry will turn over his duties as chief financial officer of NBC Universal Television Group, to Andy Warren, senior VP and chief financial officer of NBC Television Studios, and Howard Averill, senior vice president and chief financial officer of NBC Universal Entertainment Television, reporting in to Zucker.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.