Fox Television Entertainment Group Chairman Sandy Grushow, who helped build the network into a contender with the big three that dominated U.S. broadcasting for decades, said Monday he was stepping down to start a production company.
Grushow, a 20-year Fox film and television veteran, helped launch the network and hits like "The X-Files" and "Melrose Place," and he expanded the network's prime time original programming schedule to seven nights a week from five, pitting the News Corp Ltd. unit against rivals ABC, CBS and NBC.
Fox will not replace Grushow, who oversaw Fox's television studio and network, and whose contract was set to expire this summer, said News Corp. spokeswoman Teri Everett.
Gail Berman, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting, and studio chiefs Gary Newman and Dana Walden, co-presidents of 20th Century Fox Television, will report to Fox Group Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Chernin instead of Grushow, she said.
Grushow will launch a production company called Phase Two, which will be based at 20th Century Fox.
