A Conversation with Alan Wurtzel ‘67:
President, Research & Media Development, NBCUniversal

Alan Wurtzel '67 is the President of Research and Media Development for NBCUniversal. In addition Wurtzel leads the company’s Broadcast Standards & Practices Department, which oversees program content and advertising and commercial clearance. He joined NBCU in 1999.

Throughout his tenure, Wurtzel has led numerous research initiatives for the company, including measuring the effectiveness of television ads viewed on a DVR and launching the TAMi, or Total Audience Measurement Index, a compilation of data designed to measure the total exposure to any one program across multiple media platforms. Wurtzel has also conducted extensive research around the Beijing, Vancouver, London and Sochi Olympics, taking advantage of the unique scope and duration of the Games to gain unprecedented insight into consumer cross-platform behavior. Additionally, Wurtzel helped spearhead the creation of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), a group of leading U.S. television content providers, media agencies and advertisers who joined forces in 2009 to help promote research innovation and explore new ways to measure audiences across traditional and new media.

Prior to joining NBC Universal, Wurtzel spent 21 years at ABC in a variety of managerial positions, including Senior Vice President, Media Development, Brand Management and Research. In that position, he was responsible for innovating and managing a variety of initiatives designed to leverage existing ABC media businesses. Prior to that, he served for more than five years as Senior VP, News Magazine and Longform Programming for ABC News.

Before joining ABC, Wurtzel taught at the University of Georgia and Queens College, City University of New York. He authored many articles for both academic journals and consumer publications and is the author of the textbook “Television Production,” which has been a standard in the field for over 20 years.