Manze had been president of program planning, scheduling and strategy of NBC for the last year. But he now wants to put his expertise to use in a wider venue.
"I want to use all my marketing, advertising, scheduling and production abilities," he says. "This job will give me that." Crossing all these responsibilities is essential for NBC Universal, since many network executives focus on their respective core areas, he says.
Manze will continue to report to NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios co-chairman Ben Silverman and co-chairman Marc Graboff.
Mitch Metcalf is executive vice president of program planning and scheduling for NBC Entertainment, and will take over as NBC's top scheduling executive. Lisa Vebber, senior vice president of scheduling and strategic analysis of NBC, will also increase her scheduling duties.
In recent years, Manze has been responsible for marketing campaigns such as the "Heroes" theme line of last year: "Save The Cheerleader. Save the World." Manze was also the creative force behind the network's 1990's longtime marketing effort "Must See TV."
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Before the scheduling job, Manze was president/creative director of The NBC Agency, the network's in-house advertising and marketing department, since 1999.
This season, as a scheduling executive, Manze moved "The Office" to its Thursday 9 p.m. time slot--against the likes of CBS' "CSI" and ABC' "Grey's Anatomy"--which was able to maintain virtually all viewers of "The Office"'s because of the show's strong loyalty base. Manze joined NBC in March 1990 as vp of advertising and promotion for NBC West Coast. Before NBC, Manze was executive vp of Steve Sohmer Inc., a theatrical advertising and promotion company. He has also worked for KNBC Los Angeles, as director of broadcasting and promotion.