(L-R) Michael Cavanagh, then-chief financial officer of Comcast, talks with Brian Roberts, chief executive officer of Comcast, as they arrive for the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 9, 2019 in Sun Valley, Idaho.Drew Angerer | Getty ImagesAs the shock wears off on the sudden departure of NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Jeff Shell, executives at NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, will need to make decisions on a handful of major items that will determine the company’s future in the next 12 to 24 months.Shell announced he was departing the company immediately Sunday after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with an NBCUniversal employee. Mike Cavanagh, Comcast’s president, will run the NBCUniversal division, though it’s unclear for how long. While Cavanagh has been at Comcast since 2015, serving as the company’s chief financial officer before his promotion to president in October, his background isn’t running large media businesses. Cavanagh was a banker for more than 20 years before joining Comcast.Shell’s departure comes at a particularly crucial time for the future of the news and entertainment company. While Shell was never the ultimate decision-maker at Comcast — that job falls to CEO Brian Roberts, whose family controls the company — his input and vision helped dictate the company’s pathway through streaming, sports rights and acquisitions.NBCUniversal is staring at big decisions in all three of those categories in the coming months.The Hulu decisionIn 2019, NBCUniversal agreed to an unusual deal with Disney, allowing it to sell its 33% stake in Hulu in January 2024 at a valuation of at least $27.5 billion. But comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier this year have put Disney’s motivation to buy the remainder of Hulu in doubt.”Everything is on the table,” Iger told CNBC’s David Faber in February, suggesting Disney could buy the remainder of Hulu or sell its 66% stake — conceivably to Comcast.Shell was a big fan of Hulu and thought it could supercharge NBCUniversal’s streaming efforts, according to people familiar with his thinking. Hulu ended 2022 with 48 mil …

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