Universal Television’s Russell Rothberg, executive vice president of drama development, has stepped down.
Rothberg’s final day at the studio was Thursday, months before his contract was set to expire in March 2017. His departure follows closely after an executive shakeup at Universal TV ahead of the new season.
Studio head Bela Bajaria was ousted last month after failing to land a single Universal-produced drama on sister network NBC’s fall schedule. She was shortly replaced by the network’s head of drama development, Pearlena Igbokwe.
Rothberg originally joined the studio in 2009 after previously serving as SVP, drama programming for NBC and Universal TV’s predecessor, Universal Media Studios. Prior to NBC, Rothberg served as vice president of current programming at Fox.
The series developed under Rothberg during his time at Universal include A&E’s “Bates Motel”; NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” “Shades of Blue,” “Emerald City” and “Midnight, Texas”; and “Pure Genius” on CBS.