“End of an era” is a term that’s thrown around a lot in this business, but this time it’s more than appropriate: Curt King is exiting Universal Studio Group at the end of March, marking the end of a more than 25 year career in various positions at the Peacock (the company, not the streamer).
King has most recently served as head of corporate communications and marketing at Universal Studio Group, the shingle that comprises Universal Television, UCP (aka Universal Content Productions, formerly Universal Cable Productions), Universal TV Alternative Studio and Universal International Studios. King plans to take some time off before revealing what’s coming next.
King began his NBCUniversal tour at NBC Entertainment, where he oversaw primetime series publicity, before shifting to head Universal Television publicity and marketing. It’s at the studio where he’s spent the bulk of his career at the company.
The exec was part of the team that was there during NBC’s “Must-See TV” era, overseeing campaigns for iconic series “ER,” “The West Wing,” “Law & Order” (and its spinoffs), “Seinfeld,” “Frasier,” “Will & Grace,” “Mad About You” and “Friends,” which earned him a Publicists Guild Award.
Additional programs he helped tubthump included “Scrubs,” “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “Freaks & Geeks,” and “Homicide: Life on the Streets,” among numerous others. At Universal TV, he oversaw the campaigns for hits like “House,” “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Good Place,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Heroes,” “Monk,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Hacks” and Dick Wolf’s “Chicago” and “FBI”-branded dramas.
Having served in corporate communications for two decades — which he believes is the longest tenure of anyone at one of the major TV studios — he has worked on programming in every daypart and across all genres.
The hard-working King has at various times overseen divisions within the company including series publicity, talent relations, events and operations, corporate communications and the West Coast Page program. He also has too many upfront presentations and Television Critics Association press tours to even count. King’s team has won multiple Prism Awards from the Public Relations Society of America (Los Angeles), and in 2020 Universal Studio Group was named communications team of the year.
“I always joke that one day I’m going to win the lottery, but I’ve come to realize that with the extraordinary experiences and opportunities I’ve had with this job, I’ve already hit the jackpot, many times over,” King said in an announcement sharing his departure news. “What an incredible honor it’s been to work with and learn from the industry’s smartest, most gifted, and creative talent. I’ll forever cherish this and excitedly look forward to my next chapter.”
King’s exit follows last year’s departure of Rebecca Marks, another long-time NBC vet (at 37 years), who moved to Warner Bros. TV Group to head up publicity and communications.
Before NBC, King worked at Hanson & Schwam Public Relations, as a page for ABC Entertainment, and at CNN Headline News, WSYX-TV (Columbus, Ohio) and WKYC-TV (Cleveland).