U.S. media and entertainment giant NBC Universal announced Monday the appointment of a new chief to oversee the company's television entertainment businesses under a single roof.

Veteran television executive Jeff Gaspin was named chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, effective immediately, announced the company, whose entertainment division is based in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, NBC's entertainment chief Ben Silverman is leaving the company to form a new venture, but he will remain in his current role for several weeks to help launch the network's fall schedule.

Gaspin, who already runs the company's entertainment cable networks, including USA, SyFy, Bravo, Oxygen, Universal HD, Sleuth, and Chiller, as well as the Telemundo network and its owned stations, now will oversee NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"This new structure will consolidate all of the company's television entertainment assets, both broadcast and cable, English and Spanish, under one roof and will better allow the company to leverage its content across all of those properties," said a statement by the company.

Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive of NBC Universal, has been reportedly concerned about the tumbling ratings and plummeting profits of its broadcast television business.

The new appointment put Gaspin, who has run NBC Universal's cable television businesses in last few years, to the No. 2 executive position at the media company owned by General Electric (GE), directly under Zucker.

Gaspin received the coveted GE "leadership award" earlier this year for his management of the cable television group, which accounts for almost all of NBC Universal's profits.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2009)