Allison Gollust Named Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, NBC Universal

Allison Gollust Named Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, NBC Universal

NEW YORK, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Allison Gollust has been appointed executive vice president, Corporate Communications, for NBC Universal. The announcement was made today by Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, to whom she will report. The appointment is effective July 13. Gollust succeeds Cory Shields, who was recently named Executive Vice President, Global Policy Strategies and Alliances for NBC Universal.

Gollust will be responsible for communications policies and strategic positioning of NBC Universal's global assets, content and executives. She will oversee the company's domestic and international media strategy and execution, executive communications, internal communications, corporate philanthropy, and community relations. She will serve as the chief spokesperson for Zucker and NBC Universal.

"Allison is an accomplished communications strategist who I've had the good fortune of working closely with for more than a decade," said Zucker. "She brings a wealth of experience to this position, not only in her broad knowledge of this company, but of the media landscape at large. Her talents have earned her the respect of her colleagues and constituents, and will serve NBC Universal well for many years to come."

Gollust has served as Senior Vice President of NBC News Communications since 2005, having overseen the nation's number-one news division's communications strategy since 2002. She is responsible for all internal and external communications for NBC News, its executives and its programming, including "Today," "Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Dateline" and "Meet the Press." In addition, Gollust has oversight responsibility for communications for MSNBC, CNBC and The Weather Channel.

In the course of her tenure at NBC News, Gollust was responsible for managing communications strategy around three major network anchor transitions, including the appointment of David Gregory following the tragic death of Tim Russert in 2008. In 2006, Gollust oversaw all communications surrounding the highly-anticipated and widely-reported transition from Katie Couric to Meredith Vieira at "Today," the nation's number-one morning news program. Two years prior, she successfully managed the strategic communications for the switch from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams at "NBC Nightly News," the first anchor transition at an evening news broadcast in more than two decades.

Gollust joined NBC News Communications in November 1998, as a senior publicist for "Today," where she first worked with Zucker when he served as executive producer of the broadcast. Prior to her tenure with "Today," she was a publicist in NBC's Corporate Communications division, where she oversaw corporate and philanthropic events, as well as handled internal communications. In that capacity, she worked closely with the network's government relations, sales and marketing departments, and developed strategic corporate events.

Prior to coming to NBC, Gollust was the Director of Communications for Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, based in Denver, Colo., and New York City. She began her career as a news anchor, reporter and producer.

Gollust serves on the Board of New York Women in Communications. She resides in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Source: NBC Universal

CONTACT: Cory Shields of NBC Universal, +1-212-664-6999,
cory.shields@nbcuni.com

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