Nellie Andreeva

After the shocking exit of NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol last week, a not-so-shocking aftershock: His loyal deputy, NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer, today announced he is retiring after 30 years at NBC. He will stay through the summer, a crucial period for securing rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, whose bids are due soon. Schanzer has run the day-to-day operations of NBC Sports since being named president in 1998 and recently orchestrated the network’s 10-year, $2 billion dollar deal with the NHL. “It has been the greatest privilege of my professional career to have contributed to the growth of NBC Sports and to have worked with so many prodigious people,” Schanzer said in a statement. “It’s comforting to know that when I leave at the end of the summer, the NBC Sports Group will be in the hands of (chairman) Mark Lazarus and all the talented people here who have meant so much to me throughout my career.”

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.