It’s hammer time

NBCUniversal boss Steve Burke anointed Bonnie Hammer his cable queen.

Hammer yesterday solidified her grip on NBCU’s cable-TV empire in a management shake-up that also saw her closest rival, Lauren Zalaznick, stripped of her cable powers.

Burke handed Hammer control over women-focused channels Bravo, Oxygen and Style — properties that were overseen by Zalaznick — in addition USA, Sci-Fi, E! and a handful of other channels.

Zalaznick was put in charge of NBCU’s digital initiatives and will continue to oversee online properties including Fandango and Daily Candy.

Charles Trainor/Bravo

A scene from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami”

As part of the restructuring, NBCU put Joe Uva, the former CEO of Univision, in charge of its Spanish-language channel Telemundo, which was also overseen by Zalaznick.

While Zalaznick’s new role was widely seen as a demotion, NBCU portrayed her as having executive parity with Hammer. Zalaznick, for instance, will get an office next door to Burke. All three executives will report to Burke.

“Lauren is being promoted to a new role in which she will be responsible for harnessing the power of the NBCUniversal content portfolio to drive revenue across the company, including TV Everywhere and alternative windowing strategies,” Burke said yesterday in an memo.

The Post first reported the cable reshuffling yesterday on its website.

After Comcast completed its takeover two years ago, Burke carved up the media giant’s cable empire, giving each woman her own channel portfolio.

But the separate fiefdoms created additional overhead and competition for ad dollars, sources told The Post.

Hammer was said to have been fed up with the current structure and made a play for the whole portfolio as part of her recent contract negotiations, sources said.

Burke had considered removing Telemundo from Zalaznick’s purview a few months ago, according to sources,

Uva, the new chairman of Hispanic Enterprises, will be tasked with boosting affiliate and ad rates for Telemundo, which has historically lagged Univision.

Ironically, Univision is now run by ex-NBCU President Randy Falco.

Exiting NBCU with no immediate position is Salil Mehta, sources said.

Mehta, a lieutenant of former NBCU chief Jeff Zucker, had reported to Zalaznick and was chief operating officer and chief financial officer at NBC Universal Entertainment and Digital.

Mehta follows a handful of top executives out the door, most recently NBC News boss Steve Capus, who announced his exit last week.

Hammer has her work cut out for her, as the cable assets — which account for 50 percent of the media giant’s cash flow — did not have a great 2012.

The cable channels saw an 8 percent dip in the 25-to-54 year old demographic during primetime.

NBCSports cable network fell 22 percent during an Olympic year, while cash cow USA was down 13 percent.

Comcast, which owns 51 percent of NBCU, reports fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Feb. 13.

catkinson@nypost.com

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Register for our free Business Plan Bootcamp

Whether you are planning to enter the Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge or want to refine a short business plan you already have, our free Business Plan Bootcamp later this month can help.

Melissa Krinzman, a veteran Business Plan Challenge judge and managing director of Venture Architects, will be leading a panel of experts who will give you advice on crafting a short business plan aimed at grabbing the attention of investors — or judges. If you are entering the Challenge, we encourage you to bring your entry with you because the panel will critique critical sections of the short plan.

Panelists include:

•  Richard Ginsburg, co-founder of G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early stage investment company.

•  Steven McKean, founder and CEO of Acceller, a Miami-based tech company, and a Challenge judge.

•  Mike Tomas, CEO of Miami-based Bioheart, president of ASTRI Group and a Challenge judge.

Time, date, place: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26, Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus Auditorium (Room 1261, Building 1, 2nd floor).

To register: It’s free, but please register here.

You do not have to enter the Challenge to attend our free boot camp, but we hope you will. The Challenge deadline is March 11.

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Super Bowl party turns violent; one dead in Miami Gardens drive-by shooting

One man was killed and two others wounded Sunday night when gunfire erupted outside a Super Bowl party in Miami Gardens.

Witnesses told police up to 30 shots rang out when suspects drove by the home on the 2300 block of Northwest 204th Street and opened fire on the victims, who were standing outside home, NBC6 reported.

Scores of football fans had gathered at the neighborhood party to watch the Baltimore Ravens battle the San Francisco 49ers.

The victim was identified as a 25-year-old father of two. Two others were also wounded, the station said.

Police said the men hit appeared to have been targeted by the drive-by shooters.

This article will be updated as more details become available.

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Xbox Hoax Leads Armed Cops to Family

Members of a Florida family were shocked to be awakened in the middle of the night to find their house surrounded by police with guns drawn shouting at them to put their hands up.

Police Lt. Mike Beavers said the commotion was “very rare” for the small town of Oviedo, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it happening in our little town,” Beavers told ABCNews.com.

The frightened family did not want to be identified but recounted the ordeal to ABC News’ Orlando affiliate WFTV.

“I heard the doorbell ring,” the father of two told WFTV. “We couldn’t see anybody at the front of the door. All we saw was the rifle barrel.”

The man said he and his wife originally believed they were being robbed.

“They have rifles, they have guns, and I said, ‘Let’s get out of the house,’ so we ran down the hallway and got our two boys up,” the father said.

“We were told to freeze and put our hands over our heads,” he recalled. “They said, ‘We’re the police,’ so that was a big relief.”

What the family didn’t realize was that an Xbox hoax had led the Oviedo police to its house. The police said they were responding to a call from AT&T saying it had received online messages from a person who said he was hiding inside the house, claiming that someone had been killed there and that others were being held hostage.

But when police arrived, all they found was a very surprised and confused family.

Upon investigation, police learned that the confusion all started when an Oviedo teenager living in another house called police saying his Xbox had been hacked.

The teenager said the hackers had threatened to call in bomb threats to his home if he did not meet their demands for gaming information.

When the teenager refused, the hackers sent fake messages reporting the killing and hostage taking at the teenager’s former home. His previous address, where police showed up, was still connected to his Xbox.

The teenager did some of his own investigating, police said, and provided authorities with some possible identifying information on the hackers.

“The caller gave information to officers regarding two possible suspects, including IP addresses, Twitter and Facebook accounts and a possible name of one of the suspects,” according to the police report. “The information provided to the officers revealed that both suspects were located in different states.”

The information has been turned over to Oviedo detectives for further investigation.

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Warm Bodies Tops Weekend Box Office

Audiences embraced Warm Bodies for its debut, making it the weekend's highest grosser at the box office.

RELATED: New on Blu-ray & DVD

The zombie rom-com (starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich) dug up $20 million, beating out Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, which placed second with $9.4 million.

Academy Award Best Picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook trailed close behind with $8.1 million despite entering its 12th week in theaters. Fellow Best Picture nominees Zero Dark Thirty ($5.3 million), Django Unchained ($3 million), Les Miserables ($2.44 million) and Lincoln ($2.41 million) also made the top 10.

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60 Seconds with Gary Shapiro

How are successful businesses like black-clad Japanese assassins?

The ninja is a clever, out-of-the-box, fast-moving, fast-responsive warrior.

And to succeed in business today, a business or someone who works in it has to respond to the situation with the tools at hand, be flexible, clever and overcome bigger forces.

What are “ninja” companies looking for in their employees?

I’ve gotten to know a lot of CEOs, and they’re very similar. They don’t want yes-men. They want someone who’s going to challenge the status quo, who’s going to come up with a solution. If you see a brick wall, you don’t go back to your boss and say, “There’s a brick wall, I can’t get over it.” You get around it: Jump over it. Tunnel under it.

If an employee finds himself in a non-innovative business, what’s the first step he needs to make to effect change?

Volunteer to try different things. I’ve looked at the people we’ve promoted in our little 150-person corporation. The person who runs the biggest part of our department has no college degree, and she would volunteer for anything.

Workers are being asked to do more with less. How can workers define their goals while in a constant frenzy of activity?

Figure out what is being asked that is unnecessary. Are reports being prepared that no one is reading? That is common in every corporation. You do things because you’ve always done them. Or are you doing things that make sense from the customer’s perspective? Businesses waste a lot of time and money. It’s not a matter of putting more time into your job. It’s also a matter of working smarter and coming up with ways to do things better.

As an employee, how can you ensure you’ve accounted for every possible obstacle that can come between you and a successful career and the success of your company?

I have no problem, as a president of a company, when any employee asks me what they can do to move forward. It’s like dating. Men think women are really smart if they ask them a lot of questions. Same thing in a job interview or even with the CEO. If you ask them questions about what they’re thinking and you’ve done your homework, it makes a lot of sense. But 90 percent of the time, I realize that people who are trying to sell me something, or even employees sometimes,haven’t done their homework. It is a risk if you haven’t done your homework.

What kind of environment should employers be creating to get the most out of their employees?

Don’t treat employees as just a cost. Treat them as individuals. They have issues in life. You have to show that you care about them. And you should care about them. Things happen to employees, with their families, with themselves — and you have to respect that.

Why do you think so many employers have a difficult time doing that?

Obviously there are costs associated with that, but you have to focus on the long term. And the best predictor of an organization’s success is the engagement of the employees. If they’re not engaged, you’re doing something wrong and you need to rethink that.

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Bright spots in Latin America despite global economic uncertainty

There are bright spots as Latin American and Caribbean economies begin the year but the uncertain health of the U.S. economy, the lingering financial crisis in Europe and more sluggish growth in China are casting shadows over the region.

A decade ago, dim prospects in those major markets would have delivered a knock-out punch in the region, but this year Latin American and Caribbean economies are expected to grow by 3.5 percent and average 3.9 percent growth in 2014 and 2015, according to a World Bank forecast. The United Nations’ Economic Commission has a slightly more sanguine forecast of 3.8 percent growth in 2013.

Both are better than the 2.4 percent growth the World Bank is forecasting for the global economy and the mere 1.3 percent increase it is predicting for high-income countries.

The U.S. economy grew by 2.2 percent in 2012. But the economy shrank 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2013 also could be sluggish..

“That creates a soggy start for 2013 in Latin America,’’ said David Malpass, president of Encima Global, a New York economic consulting and research firm.

With a recession in Japan, even slower growth expected in Europe than in the United States, and questions about whether the dip in the Chinese economy has bottomed out and whether the United States will be making sharp cuts in defense spending and other federal programs come March 1, Latin American and Caribbean nations can’t really depend on the industrialized world to spur growth.

The region must look inward and undertake structural reforms that will allow growth from domestic factors, said Malpass, who was in Miami in January for an event organized by the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy.

Panama’s $5.25 billion investment in expansion of the Panama Canal is an example of the inward focus that will pay off down the road, said Malpass. By 2015, Panama plans to have completed two new sets of locks on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal and the deepening and widening of existing channels to accommodate the so-called Post-Panamax ships too big to traverse the current locks.

“It’s a difficult period but a period where developing countries are growing solidly but not as quickly as they might otherwise want to,’’ said Andrew Burns, the lead author of the World Bank’s annual Global Economic Trends report.

That means they should focus on investment in infrastructure and healthcare, structural policies, regulatory reforms and improvements in governance that will pay future dividends down the road, Burns said.

Such economic reforms, plus high commodity prices enjoyed by countries with fertile fields and mineral wealth, helped the region move beyond the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 far more quickly than it did when it was so dependent on economic cycles in the rest of the world.

Economic growth slowed in Latin America and the Caribbean from 4.3 percent in 2011 to an estimated 3 percent but that was still better than the 1.3 percent growth high-income countries managed in 2012, according to The World Bank.

China will continue to play a major role in Latin America and the Caribbean this year but whether the slowdown in China has reached its low point is subject to debate. But it’s relative. Slow growth in China would be brisk growth elsewhere. China says its gross domestic product grew 7.8 percent in 2012, the most tepid growth in 13 years and a comedown from 9.3 percent growth in 2011.

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‘Unsung Heroes’ to be honored Feb. 10

There are many reasons I like writing this column. One is because I get to tell you the good news.

And some of the good news today is that I get to announce the 2013 BTW Unsung Heroes. Not all the honorees are graduates of Booker T. Washington High School. They come from all the formerly all-black high schools in Miami-Dade County.

One of the heroes is Thomas Leo Albury Jr., a graduate of the old Dorsey High School in Liberty City. Leo, as he is affectionately known, was my surrogate brother and dear friend during my growing-up years.

The heroes also include: Madeline Hepburn Atwell, Booker T. Washington High; Otis Collier, Mays High; Johnnie Fields, Booker T. Washington High; Frank G. Hall, Booker T. Washington High; Anne Turner Herriott, Northwestern High; Eddie L Redding, Booker T. Washington High; Dr. Richard J. Strachan (I call him Mr. Music), Dorsey High; Girlean "Gigi" Tinsley, Booker T. Washington; Lee Waters, Mays High; and Freddie G. Young, Carver High.

The honorees will be recognized a at special event called the "Orange, Black and White Tea" at 4 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the auditorium of Booker T. Washington High School, 1200 NW Sixth Ave. in Overtown.

The event is in conjunction with Black History Month and the celebration of the history of the six original black high schools — Booker T. Washington, Dorsey, Mays, Carver, Northwestern, and North Dade.

According to Cecillia Hunter, chairwoman of the event, the honorees from the schools are being recognized because "others have risen on their shoulders. These elevations have served us well and made room at the top for many."

Hunter said she hopes the celebration will serve as a history education in the county and "help to reunite us as a community."

Each honoree will present a short history of their high school and the part it played in the education of blacks in Miami Dade County.

The event is free and open to the community.

Women writers group to meet

A Writing Critique Group for Women will meet from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. each Wednesday, starting Feb. 6, at Arts at St. Johns, 4760 Pinetree Dr. in Miami Beach.

All types of writing will be accepted, from fiction and nonfiction, to short stories and novels, and poetry and memoirs. It’s free and open to all women. If you go, take along your writing or just an idea. The group will be led by Carol Hoffman-Guzman. Call 305-613-2325 for more information.

Find your new Valentine at pub crawl

The Coral Gables Museum’s Young Associates will host the Second Annual Gables Heart Crawl at 3 p.m. on Feb. 9. The Young Associates have asked participants of the love-themed pub crawl, to wear colors matching their relationship status. For example: the color green means one is single and "ready to mingle," yellow lets other crawlers know "it’s complicated," and red is for those who already have Valentines.

The donation is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. The event will begin at 3 p.m. at Tarpon Bend on Miracle Mile and will continue to The Local, Fritz and Franz, John Martin’s and The Bar.

According to Cristina Mas, "The Young Associates has become one of Coral Gables’ best organizations for young professionals to learn about art, network, and even to find romance." Mas is president of the organization.

For tickets or more information, go to: www.coralgablesmuseum.org/youngassociates.php.

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Buzzmakers: SAG Winners Pics and Nicole Kidman Explains Jimmy Kimmel Lap Dance

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. PICS: SAG Winners with their Statues!

Some of Hollywood's biggest stars gathered Sunday night to honor acting achievements at the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Anne Hathaway -- winner of the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Les Misérables -- kicks off our gallery of the stars accepting their handsome statuettes!

Click here for all the pics!

2. Nicole Kidman on Her Lap Dance for Jimmy Kimmel

Nicole Kidman raised eyebrows during Matt Damon's Jimmy Kimmel Live! takeover when she greeted Kimmel -- who was strapped to a chair -- with a lap dance. On the SAG Awards red carpet, the Oscar winner explained the move to Nancy O'Dell.

Kidman described the dance as "impromptu," saying that she was just following the lead of another one of the night's guests.

"Robin Williams had done it before, so I thought, 'Well, why not?'" Kidman explained.

For years Kimmel has had a running joke where he ends every episode by apologizing to Matt Damon for running out of time for him. On last week's special episode of the late-night show -- nine years in the making -- Damon recruited some friends (which included Andy Garcia, Sheryl Crow, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Robert DeNiro, Sarah Silverman, Demi Moore and Oprah Winfrey.

3. Top-Earning 'American Idol' Alums

American Idol is in the business of making music stars, and in turn, has made lots of money for some of their contestants. Forbes released their list of the top-earning Idol alums of 2012 a few names on this list are sure to surprise you.

Click here for the entire list!

4. Jennifer Lawrence Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction

It seemed like disaster for Jennifer Lawrence when her dress came apart just as she was called up to accept the award for Best Actress during the 2013 SAG Awards.

The Silver Linings Playbook star's apparent wardrobe malfunction caught the eye of both Marion Cotillard and Nicole Kidman, whose reaction to the getup coming apart at the seams was caught on camera. No disaster, here, though -- it turns out the dress was designed that way! A source close to designer Dior told ET that the dress did not rip -- that it was made with different layers of tulle and satin.

This minor outfit hitch comes after it was announced that Lawrence, 22, has walking pneumonia, making this one of the best and worst weeks for the award-winning actress.

5. Kris Jenner Lands Talk Show

Are you ready for a daily dose of Kris Jenner?

The TV personality will test the talk show waters this summer when Fox premieres a preview episode of Kris, a one-hour entertainment talk show. "This is something I have wanted to do all my life so it's definitely a dream come true," Jenner said in a statement! "I can't wait for this new adventure to begin and look forward to working alongside Twentieth Television and the Fox Television Stations."

Kris will be rolled out in a similar fashion to how Bethenny Frankel's talk show was last summer, with the network testing the waters to see if there's an audience appetite for more of this famous family. According to a press release, the show will "offer daytime viewers a daily jolt of celebrity guests, fashion & beauty trends; plus a mix of lifestyle topics -- all through the distinctive and unpredictable perspective of Kris Jenner. Filmed in Los Angeles, CA, the pop culture driven talk show will bring a cool blast of fun and high energy to summer television."

The trial run of Kris will launch this summer, with the program available on select Fox-owned stations in markets, including New York and Los Angeles.

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How Ed fixed New York

Michael Goodwin

Ed Koch was one of New York’s three great mayors in the 20th century, joining LaGuardia and Giuliani in that hallowed circle. Each faced different problems with unique style, but all turned the city away from disaster and toward prosperity.

That Koch departs in an election year, accompanied by an outpouring of praise and gratitude, is his final gift to the city he loved. The current crop of candidates for City Hall now has before them clear lessons on how he achieved greatness. If Gotham is lucky, one of them will also rise to the occasion.

In Koch’s case, the key was courage. The courage to confront the big problems, even when it meant breaking with some longtime supporters.

NY Post: Vic DeLucia

A liberal congressman from the East Side, Koch first tried for City Hall in 1973, quitting after seven weeks when he couldn’t raise money or support. He told a reporter, “That’s the last mayoral race I’m ever going to make.”

But as red ink swamped the city, Koch realized that Mayor Abe Beame wasn’t up to the task. Koch would run again in 1977.

This time, he didn’t dance around the edges, vowing to confront “the threat of bankruptcy, the loss of more and more jobs and the steadily increasing crime rates.” He called Beame, a fellow Democrat, “incompetent” and said Abe “couldn’t run a candy store.”

Koch’s team, led by the brilliant David Garth, was smart enough to let Koch be Koch — up to a point.

TV ads, some showcasing his puckish humor, were crafted to identify his name with a fresh approach.

All that is pretty standard, but the key was Koch’s willingness to buck party orthodoxy. Among outer-borough voters, especially those dismissed as “white ethnics,” most Dems were seen as too liberal and too Manhattan.

Koch was fierce in his determination to overcome that image with populist, common-sense ideas. He knew that success was possible only if his policies matched the problems and the mood of voters.

His election was just the start of his challenge — now he had to actually do something. His stroke of brilliance was to introduce a new word to New Yorkers: No.

No, no, no — we’re not going to spend money we don’t have. No, we’re not going to let the unions bring us to our knees.

No, it’s not OK to litter and loot and commit crimes and have prostitutes take over Times Square.

Koch became Dr. No with a shtick that was brash and infectious. He made it cool to say no.

Most important, he meant it and soon everybody knew he meant it. Those who tested his seriousness did so only once.

Koch did not pretend to be an expert on municipal bonds, housing or anything else. Instead, he was the leader of a team and, once a solution was settled on, used the bully pulpit, the camera and the megaphone to make it happen. He was relentless.

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