Comcast (CMCSA) executives weighed in on the sudden departure of former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell during the company's quarterly earnings call on Thursday, with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts calling it a "tough moment" for the media giant.

Shell was ousted on Sunday following an internal investigation that found he had an "inappropriate relationship" with a female employee. He had been with the company since 2004, overseeing news and entertainment television networks, in addition to the company's film studio and theme parks divisions.

Roberts hedged the bombshell dismissal by calling out Comcast's "best in the business" leadership team, adding that Comcast President Michael Cavanagh, who will be stepping in as interim CEO of NBCUniversal, "is a fantastic executive and operator. ...He'll work closely with each of the management teams at NBCUniversal to continue our excellent momentum."

 

Cavanagh said there will be no change in strategy as a result of Shell's ousting.

"It's unfortunate to have an unexpected change in leadership [but] there is no reason for anyone to think that we're going to be revisiting strategy as a result of that," he said. "Job number one for me is to just settle things down and make sure the businesses and the business leaders at NBCU remain focused on the job at hand."

The executive, who said he's been "deeply involved" with the operations at NBCUniversal "for a long, long time," added there's no pressure to find a replacement for Shell, telling investors: "I would put no timetable [on it] at all, no time pressure to do anything other than make sure the business is hum."

"Maybe someday we'll think there's a better way to approach it, but I'll never be moving far away from the businesses no matter what. ...Think of me being there for awhile."

Peacock Q1 loss widens to $704 million

Comcast reported a first-quarter earnings that beat on both the top and bottom lines, despite slowing broadband user growth and mounting losses within its Peacock streaming service. Shares moved higher in mid-morning trading following the results, up nearly 7%.

Revenue for the quarter grew to $29.69 billion versus the estimated $29.42 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.92 versus the expected $0.83, according to data from Bloomberg.

Adjusted EBITDA for the company's media division, which includes Peacock, decreased 25.5% year-over-year to $880 million. Comcast primarily attributed the decrease to lower domestic advertising revenue and domestic distribution revenue, reflecting the comparison to the Beijing Olympics and the NFL's Super Bowl in the prior year period.