Epix president and CEO Mark Greenberg is departing the network after eight years at the helm.
Greenberg’s departure comes five months after the premium service was acquired by MGM – one of the founding owners of the service along with Lionsgate and Paramount. MGM chairman and chief executive officer Gary Barber announced Greenberg’s departure in a memo sent to staffers this morning.
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“As we have completed the integration of Epix into MGM, Mark Greenberg, the founding CEO of Epix, has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities in the media and entertainment industry,” Barber said in the memo. “Mark has been a driving force behind the success of the company and a pioneer in TV Everywhere, leading Epix to become the first cross-platform network and overseeing its programming expansion into original scripted series.”
Epix will be lead in the interim by Monty Sarhan, executive vice president, programming, strategy and enterprises.
Greenberg, who has served as Epix's president and CEO since it launched in 2009, said in a statement that this is the “right time to leave.”
“Founding Epix and building it over the past nine years into a thriving and successful business has been one of the great accomplishments of my professional life,” Greenberg said. “With the completion of the integration of Epix into MGM, I have decided that I am ready to move on to other interesting and exciting opportunities in the media and entertainment industry that will allow me to tap into my entrepreneurial spirit and build on my experience at Epix.”
The full internal memo from Gary Barber follows:
When we announced our acquisition of Epix earlier this year, we expressed our excitement about adding the fastest growing premium pay TV network to the MGM family of properties.
As we have completed the integration of Epix into MGM, Mark Greenberg, the founding CEO of Epix, has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities in the media and entertainment industry.
Mark has been a driving force behind the success of the company and a pioneer in TV Everywhere, leading Epix to become the first cross platform network and overseeing its programming expansion into original scripted series.
In the interim, Epix will be managed by Monty Sarhan, executive vice president, programming, strategy & enterprises, and its talented operating team that is already in place. He will report to me for the time being with help and assistance from MGM's senior management team including Chris Ottinger, president, worldwide television distribution & acquisitions and Ken Kay, chief financial officer.
In closing, I want to thank Mark for building and leading the business over the last nine years. His dedication and commitment to the company during this integration process has been greatly appreciated. We wish him all the best in his endeavors.
We are confident in the future of Epix and look forward to making significant investments in premium content to further the company’s growth and success.
