NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt is preparing to step down from his role at the company, TheWrap has learned.
The executive, who has led NBC and its sister studio Universal Television since 2011, is expected to meet with NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke this weekend to discuss a plan for his exit. He is expected to depart by the end of the year.
Greenblatt’s exit had been widely speculated about throughout the summer, and the news comes just days after the network’s broadcast of the 70th Emmy Awards earlier this week.
No one decision directly caused the executive’s decision to step down, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke with TheWrap, though Greenblatt has been observed as being hit particularly hard by the recent death of his close friend Craig Zadan and views last season’s ratings win as a big milestone for his tenure at the once-struggling network.
NBC declined to comment.
Greenblatt took the helm at NBC in more than seven years ago, reversing the network’s ratings woes with hits like “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent” and, more recently, “This Is Us.” Under his stewardship, the network has topped all the other broadcast networks in the 18-49 demo for four out of the last five seasons.
During his tenure, the avid Broadway fan also helped to launch the recent trend of staging live musicals on broadcast, beginning with “The Sound of Music Live!” in 2013. A successful string of the annual primetime events culminated in this year’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” which earned a slew of Emmy nominations for the network and five wins.
Prior to joining NBC, Greenblatt oversaw Showtime as it ventured in high-quality scripted programming with shows such as “Weeds,” “Dexter,” “Shameless,” “Nurse Jackie” “and “Californication.” He also earned a Golden Globe and a number of Emmy nominations as a producer of HBO’s “Six Feet Under.”