Edward Swindler

Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Ad Sales, NBCUniversal

Edward Swindler has been the executive vice president and chief operating officer of NBCUniversal Ad Sales since 2006. He oversees sales operations for NBCU’s national broadcast and cable TV networks including NBC, Telemundo, USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, MSNBC, and CNBC, as well as NBCU’s numerous websites, including NBC.com, iVillage, and NBCU’s interest in Hulu. He currently sits on the Board of The Weather Channel.

During his tenure at NBCUniversal, Swindler directed the analysis for many of the company’s most significant program acquisitions, both in sports--including NBCU’s historic five-Olympic deal with the IOC--and entertainment--including most major primetime series renegotiations, including shows like Friends, and ER. Among his duties, Swindler has also led many of the company’s advanced advertising initiatives, including the use of non-traditional audience metrics and the company’s partnerships with Google TV Ads, Microsoft’s Navic, and more recently Invidi.

Swindler previously served as executive vice president, NBCUniversal TV Group, and CFO, Commercial for two years. Before that, he had been senior vice president for sales strategy, planning, and pricing since 2002. Swindler has held various financial and pricing positions with NBC since 1987, and served as NBC’s first quality leader in 1996 as part of a GE-wide initiative. He joined NBC in 1984 as part of the company’s Management Associates Program.

Before joining NBCU, Swindler was an award-winning journalist and news director for the 60 station Virginia Radio Network. He also served as President-Elect of the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters before returning to business school.

Swindler holds a BA, MA, and MBA from the University of Virginia and sits on the boards of the university’s Media Studies Department and WUVA radio. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.