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NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt Is Stepping Down According to Various Reports

Sep 22, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Bob Greenblatt, who joined NBC in January, 2011, as its Entertainment Chairman, is preparing to leave that post, according to various reports.

The story was broken by sibling publications Deadline and Variety. Both stories carry the posted time of 4:50 p.m. Friday, though Variety labeled its story “exclusive.” Other publications posted the news within a short time.

Wrote Nellie Andreeva in Deadline, “I hear that NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt is in negotiations to leave the network after nearly eight years. Talks are ongoing, with a resolution expected as early as this weekend. Reps for NBC declined comment.

“Rumors about Greenblatt’s pending departure started circulating during Emmy weekend. They largely were dismissed at the time, though sources close to Greenblatt [who is 58] admitted that he had been re-evaluating his career and life following the unexpected death [last month] of his close friend, producer Craig Zadan [at age 60].

“Greenblatt, who is rumored to be possibly be going back to producing, is leaving NBC on a high. The network logged another No. 1 finish in adults 18-49 for the 2017-18 broadcast season, marking its fourth win in five years. And just a few days ago, NBC claimed its first 52-week total viewer win in 16 years while topping September-to-September demo ratings for a fifth consecutive year.”

Variety, in a story by Daniel Holloway and Cynthia Littleton, wrote, “Bob Greenblatt is preparing to leave his post as NBC Entertainment chairman after leading the network’s turnaround during the past eight years.

“Greenblatt, who renewed his contract with NBC last fall, is in the process of negotiating his exit plan at NBC after making the decision that the time is right for him to make the transition, multiple sources familiar with the situation have told Variety. He’s expected to meet this weekend with NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke to work out an exit plan that would give NBC a long runway for setting a successor. His official departure could be as late as the end of the 2018-19 season in May.

“At NBC, Greenblatt has engineered an impressive rebound for the network after out of years in the ratings cellar. NBC has been a roll in the last two years in particular thanks to the buzzy hit ‘This Is Us.’ Under Greenblatt, NBC has finished four of the last five seasons as the top-rated primetime network in the 18-49 demo. NBC also finished the 52-week 2017-18 season as the No. 1 network in nearly every ratings measure, including total viewers — the first time since 2001-02 that NBC has taken the total-viewers crown.”

To read the entire Deadline story, please click here. To read Variety’s take, please click here.

Bob Greenblatt

 

 

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