MICHAEL BASS
Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives


Michael Bass was appointed Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, in January 2008. In this position, Bass leads initiatives in support of the company's strategic priorities, including content development, international expansion, cross-platform opportunities, and digital growth. He works closely with the senior leadership team to ensure continued progress toward the company's goals. Bass reports to Jeff Zucker, President and Chief Executive Officer, NBC Universal.

Bass draws on over 20 years of experience as a producer to contribute to the creation and execution of a variety of the company’s strategic opportunities. Most recently, he has been working with the sales team and network entertainment division to develop NBC Universal’s upfront strategy and presentation, collaborating with NBC Sports to develop cross-platform programming initiatives around the 2009 Super Bowl, and serving as an advisor to the Local Media Division regarding ways to enhance local news coverage.

Before returning to NBC Universal in his current position, Bass had been at CBS News since May 2002 as senior executive producer for "The Early Show," "The Saturday Early Show," and "CBS Morning News." Prior to that, he was senior broadcast producer for NBC’s "Today" from December 1995 to May 2001.

During his tenure as senior broadcast producer for "Today," Bass was responsible for planning and producing the show's coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996) and in Sydney (2000). He also conceived the popular series "Where In the World Is Matt Lauer?" for the show and launched the third hour of the program as executive producer of "Later Today" from June 1999 to August 2000. Bass was also the executive producer of "Weekend Today" from February 1998 to June 1999. Under his leadership, the show achieved record ratings for a weekend news program. Bass held the position of broadcast producer on "Today" from 1994 to 1995 and prior to this he was as a producer on the show from 1989 to 1990.

Also at NBC News, Bass was supervising producer of "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" from September 1992 to January 1994. He held producer posts for NBC Sports' coverage of the 1992 and 1988 Summer Olympics and the Olympic late-night program in the summer of 1996. Bass is the recipient of five Sports Emmy Awards for his Olympics work.

Bass was a staff writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune from 1985 to 1986, and prior to this, he began his broadcast career began at ABC Sports as an Olympics researcher from 1983 to 1985.

He graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1983 with a degree in history and literature. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children.

April 2008