NBCUniversal unscripted executive vice president Rod Aissa announced on Friday that he is stepping down from the role after 11 years. Bravo and E! executive Rachel Smith will take on the interim role of leading the unscripted lifestyle and docuseries group.
In an email sent to colleagues, Aissa wrote, “I’m proud of our journey together as we rebranded networks, pivoted to streaming, elevated the true crime genre and saw the Bravo fandom come to life. I’m leaving the best team in place to continue to reach new heights and expand on the many successes we have achieved.”
Aissa oversaw all unscripted lifestyle and documentary programming across NBCU’s broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. He was instrumental in developing some of Peacock’s biggest hits, such as “Dr. Death,” “Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip,” “Real Housewives of Miami,” “Paris in Love” and “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise.”
Previously, Aissa was EVP of Original Programming for Oxygen and E! Production, where he managed the development and production of Oxygen’s original true-crime programming and shepherded E!’s production slate.
In 2003, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program for Ozzy Osbourne’s MTV reality series, “The Osbournes.” Over the course of his career, he helped launch such stars as Jenny McCarthy, Carmen Electra, Mandy Moore, Tyrese Gibson, Molly Sims, Carson Daly, and Ashton Kutcher.
Before joining Oxygen, Aissa was on the launch team at OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network where he oversaw all programming and development, including the Emmy-nominated “Becoming Chaz,” starring Chaz Bono.
