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THR, TVWeek

HBO Programming Chief Steps Down

May 20, 2016  •  Post A Comment

One of the top executives at HBO is exiting the pay-cable channel after 33 years. The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed reports that porgramming President Michael Lombardo is stepping down.

HBO wasn’t commenting, but the report says the news was confirmed by sources.

“Although HBO has been riding high with the latest season of ‘Game of Thrones,’ which continues to draw stellar ratings and won its first drama series Emmy last year, it’s been a challenging several months for the premium network,” THR reports. “‘Vinyl’ opened to soft numbers and saw the departure of showrunner Terence Winter, a longtime collaborator who had worked on ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire.'”

HBO has also struggled with production delays on its high-profile science-fiction drama “Westworld,” which went on hiatus midway through production on the first season and has yet to make it to air, the report notes.

Lombardo has been programming president since 2007. He is expected to make the transition to producing, with a deal believed to be in the works with HBO.

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3 Comments

  1. Good riddance to one of the most overinflated, creatively challenged programmers in television history! This roundly disliked, pâthetic little man actually once opined that he hated having to rub shoulders with anyone who did not have a college degree, had contemp for all HBO viewers who reside between NY and LA. He was utterly devoid of an original idea, immune to anything that didn’t exist in his own tiny, insular world. His ( and Richard Plepler’s) special gift was buying movie stars with sure fire projects that pre-existed in other forms and then picking up their predictable award at the drive thru Emmy window. Thank God he can no longer torment true creative artists but will now be reduced to boring unsuspecting swells at Vanity Fair parties.

  2. Bravo, now that Michael Lombardo has departed, perhaps HBO would care to give an air date to the hilarious 12 Miles of Bad Road, the series he personally killed despite Newsweek decreeing it the obvious successor to the Sophanos and Texas Monthly calling it, “The best television series no one will ever see.”

  3. Good riddance! Any chance the Idiot Plepler’s will follow?

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