NBC Sports Group has brought in Turner Broadcasting veteran Greg Hughes as senior VP, communications as the NBCUniversal division aligns under a new chief and gears up for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Longtime NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol stepped down in May. Mark Lazarus, a former Turner Broadcasting executive, was named his successor.
“Having known Greg for many years, I consider him one of the most talented sports communications executives in the business,” Lazarus said in a statement.
Hughes moves to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York after running his own Atlanta-area sports PR shop, Sedan Communications, since 2007.
He earned his broadcast PR stripes in 19 years with Turner Broadcasting, focusing on sports public and media relations over the last 16 years before exiting in 2006. At Turner, he handled its NBA, MLB and NFL coverage, as well as three Winter Olympics.
At NBC, he’ll oversee communications and media relations for the sports group, which encompasses NBC Sports, Golf Channel, Versus, 11 regional Comcast SportsNet networks, and digital assets.
NBC is also preparing to start a new NHL broadcasting deal and has the rights to Super Bowl XLVI.