Comcast’s Versant has named Christian McLaughlin as its new senior vice president of live entertainment, TheWrap has learned exclusively.
In his new role, McLaughlin will oversee and collaborate closely with executive producers, showrunners, producers, writers and creative partners to build the live events business across the company’s entertainment portfolio.
He will report directly to Versant’s President of Entertainment, Val Boreland.
McLaughlin, who has nearly three decades of experience in scripted and unscripted television, joins Versant after co-founding Rabbit Hole Media in 2022.
Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Talent and Development at Comedy Central, where he led the New York development team and oversaw series, specials, and unscripted series. He also held senior positions at Bravo as Vice President of Current Series and Vice President of Development and Production at VH1, and produced comedy and talk variety shows for Howard Stern, Regis & Kelly, and Caroline Rhea.
McLaughlin began his career as a writer, producer, and director for NBC-4 New News, where he received five New York Emmy Awards, a Promax Gold Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award.
Versant’s latest executive hire comes as he recently welcomed Jessica Kurdali from NBCUniversal to serve as vice president of talent strategy.
Other recent hires include Frank Tanki as Director of Entertainment and Sports Marketing, Susie Kricena as Senior Vice President of Content Acquisitions, Michael Sluchan as Senior Vice President of Scripted Content and Entertainment, Jenny Depper as Senior Vice President of Digital Entertainment, Janice Ferrell as Senior Vice President of Entertainment Production and Rebecca Vazzz Operations.
The appointment also comes as Versant recently unveiled his programming schedule for the 2025-2026 season, which includes 16 original series, as well as live events like WWE SmackDown and The Critics Choice Awards.
Following the separation from Comcast, Versant will become publicly traded and house MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, the golf channel, and digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, Golfnow, and SportsEngine. It is expected to reach 70 million American households and generate $7 billion in annual revenue.
The spinoff will be tax-free for Comcast shareholders and is expected to close by the end of the year.
