I broke the news today that David Nevins suddenly is leaving Imagine TV after serving as president for 8 years because he couldn’t reach a contract with 20th TV and that he lined up a new job. He’s heading to Showtime as the new entertainment president, replacing Robert Greenblatt, who will be leaving. “He wants other mountains to climb. A great exec we tried to keep,’ a CBS Inc exec explained tonight.
The fact that Greenblatt’s contract is up this summer has triggered a flurry of speculation for months how after 7 years he might pursue a new job, possibly at a broadcast network, maybe even with post-merger NBC. Under him, Showtime has grown into a formidable scripted series player through a slew of successful shows such as The Tudors, Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie and the United States Of Tara. The parting of the ways between Greenblatt and Showtime is said to be amicable, and Greenblatt is expected to stay on through the end of his contract next month. He is known for switching careers and not staying in one job for too long. He left his post at Fox as EVP to launch Greenblatt Janollari Studio, then left the successful production company to run Showtime. The length of his stay at Showtime is similar to his stints at Fox (8 years) and Greenblatt Janollari Studios (6 years).
As for Nevins, I hear the negotiations with Showtime happened quickly within the last week. Nevins served as a network executive at NBC and Fox for 10 years before joining Imagine in 2002. Coincidentally, this is the second time Nevins succeeds Greenblatt in an executive job. Nevins held the same EVP post at Fox after Greenblatt had left to become a producer.
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