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NBC Entertainment Manager Robert Greenblatt is retiring from the company after almost eight years of experience, the latest change at the highest rank of major broadcast networks.
Mr. Greenblatt, who took over when the network audience was early, was behind a remarkable recovery effort. NBC finished the number one television season in the league tables for the fourth time in five seasons.
The departure of Mr. Greenblatt was mentioned in Hollywood during the circuit of the Emmy Awards, barely a week ago. At the time, Mr. Greenblatt, through several representatives, denied that he was leaving, even though he was negotiating his exit.
But if his departure is not a surprise, the suddenness is. His last day is Monday, the same day as the 2018-1920 television season begins. He will be replaced by two people: Paul Telegdy, president and head of reality programming at NBC, and George Cheeks, a rising star of the company. They take over Tuesday.
The unprecedented upheaval at the highest level of broadcast networks is occurring for a variety of reasons. A #MeToo scandal fell Leslie Moonves at CBS, Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox leads to ABC and Fox, and Mr. Greenblatt is a successful executive.
But all broadcast networks are also facing the same problems: a dwindling number of viewers and a greatly reduced influence in the era of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
CBS has enjoyed a long history of success under the leadership of Mr. Moonves, but it will have to chart a new future after being ousted this month, as a result of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.
With Disney poised to take control of many 21st Century Fox assets early next year, there will be sales at ABC and Fox. The current head of the Disney and ABC TV group, Ben Sherwood, will leave the company after the closure of the Fox deal, according to a person familiar with his decision. Peter Rice, president of 21st Century Fox, will be in charge of most of Disney's television properties. Dana Walden, currently Co-Chief Executive Officer of Fox Television Group, is expected to play a leading role at Disney and, among other things, will probably oversee ABC's executives, according to two people close to the plan.
Fox, meanwhile, will probably forge a new identity after losing his TV studio after the conclusion of the contract with Disney.
Mr. Greenblatt, 58, said his decision had been made for some time, even though he signed a new contract a year ago.
"You get tired of these jobs," he said in an interview. "With daily changes, you constantly reconfigure the business. I'm really excited to do something. Everything I do will be a new challenge. These jobs are really relentless.
NBC finished top of the charts after calculating the summer numbers, and the "Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" primetime event won five Emmys this month. Mr. Greenblatt – a theater addict who is friends with Dolly Parton and who was an investor in "Hamilton" – orchestrated the presentation of live musicals at NBC and gave them a place in the program.
This is the second major change in direction of NBC's entertainment activities over the last six months. Jennifer Salke, No. 2 of Mr. Greenblatt with Mr. Telegdy, left earlier this year to take over Amazon's entertainment offerings.
Mr. Greenblatt arrived at NBC after overseeing the entertainment division at Showtime. NBC at that time was still licking up after its disastrous decision to give up its 22 hours. time slot for a daily show by Jay Leno. This had seriously limited the number of dramas that NBC could develop in a given year, and it took years to repair the damage. The comic alignment of NBC, once the backbone of the network, had two hits in "30 Rock" and "The Office," but the chests were otherwise bare.
"We were in a phase of complete reconstruction and everything had fallen apart," Greenblatt told the New York Times in an interview two years ago.
It was a slog. As recently as May 2015, rumors circulated that Mr. Greenblatt had been made. Jimmy Fallon, host of "The Tonight Show," told Greenblatt at the NBC release in 2015: "We will all miss you, buddy. You had a good race.
But armed with hits like "This Is Us", "The Voice" and a range of Dick Wolf's dramas from his "Law and Order" and the Chicago empires, NBC has changed course. This helped the network to also have rights to "Sunday Night Football", the highest-rated program on any television.
Other strategies have also paid off, including loading the month of December with musicals and holiday tickets. Not only have these programs attracted a large audience, but they have also offered a free promotion for the NBC's mid-season programs that were presented in January.
NBC has also found out-of-the-box success in the summer. "America's Got Talent", which has seen notoriety since Simon Cowell became a judge in 2016, has been very successful.
Stephen Burke, director of NBC Universal, said in an interview that discussions with Mr. Greenblatt about his departure have been going on for some time.
"We've been talking openly in recent years and he said, 'Damn it, I do not know how long I can do,'" said Burke.
Other factors may have accelerated things. Mr. Greenblatt wanted to see if Comcast's last-minute offer for 21st Century Fox properties would work and could possibly expand NBC's portfolio. (He does not have). And two close friends of Mr. Greenblatt – producer Craig Zadan and Broadway star Marin Mazzie – have died in the last five weeks.
Mr. Burke congratulated Mr. Greenblatt for the "brilliant" work he had done at NBC and said that his successors were both promoted from within.
"The good news is that he built a very good team and we did not look outside," he said. "We chose two types of proven products in our company."
Mr. Telegdy, 47, is the most credible person for bringing "The Voice" to NBC and being responsible for the industry's most powerful reality TV lineup. In addition to "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent", NBC also broadcasts "Game of Games" and "Little Big Shots".
Mr. Cheeks, 53, has been with NBC since 2012 and is the co-chair of Universal Cable Productions. Many in Hollywood have assumed that he was the heir to Bonnie Hammer's vast NBC Universal cable empire.
Mr. Burke stated that Mr. Greenblatt had recommended that they take over and that "that was what I was going to do anyway".
As for his future, Mr Greenblatt said he was not done with show business. He said he would be open to new work, including on a streaming platform.
"I like the idea of running a business," he said, "but I do not think it's a broadcast network at this point."
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