Krishan Bhatia, NBCUniversal’s president and chief business officer, global advertising and partnerships, is departing the media company after nearly 13 years, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The news comes less than a month after Mark Marshall was named chairman of advertising and global partnerships, replacing Linda Yaccarino, who left to become CEO of X, then known as Twitter, earlier this year.
Bhatia oversaw ad sales for all of NBCU’s digital, streaming and data products, as well as its One Platform cross-portfolio sales stack. Bhatia launched NBCU’s first-party data product, NBCUnified, in 2021, and was instrumental in the launch of Peacock. The streaming platform debuted in 2020 as an advertiser-friendly streamer while many other streamers had yet to launch their own ad tiers. He also managed the media company’s advertising partnerships with platforms including Amazon, Apple, Google, The Trade Desk, TikTok and Twitter among others.
It’s unclear where Bhatia is headed or how NBCU plans to fill the role.
Bhatia has long been a respected industry figure, leading efforts in innovation around streaming, data and measurement. He has been involved in efforts to settle TV’s measurement upheaval and is on the board of directors for the cross-industry measurement leader OpenAP. He was also a leader in launching the U.S. Joint Industry Committee.
Watch: Krishan Bhatia on measurement and revenue trends
Prior to his tenure at NBCU, Bhatia served as senior VP of Comcast Interactive Media for six years. When the company acquired NBC in 2011, Bhatia led the integration of both company’s advertising divisions. Until his departure, Bhatia was responsible for handling corporate relationships with Comcast Advertising and its ad tech platform FreeWheel.
Bhatia’s exit comes after Yaccarino, the former chairman of advertising and global partnerships, left NBCU in May to become CEO of X, then known as Twitter. At the time, Marshall was named to fill the role in an interim capacity, before assuming the role in full capacity in August.
Bhatia, in an internal memo obtained by Ad Age, said he decided to transition out of his role at NBCU but intends to remain at the company through the end of the year to “help transition my teams and responsibilities,” adding that “my organization will begin reporting into Mark Marshall effective immediately.”
NBCU issued a statement on Bhatia’s departure.
“Krishan has been an integral leader for NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships division, making huge contributions to the growth of our business and helping shepherd our industry forward during critical times of change,” Marshall said in the statement. “He has built an outstanding team of leaders who will continue to bring us into the future.”