Los Angeles— Mark Sonnenberg, executive vice president of entertainment at E! Networks, will resign his position effective Dec. 1 to pursue new opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Sonnenberg, who joined E! in 2001, last week said he would announce his plans shortly.
Under his direction, the entertainment network established E! Studios and set up its program-development unit. The company also said Sonnenberg was instrumental in rebranding both E! and spin-off Style, and in launching such series as Dr. 90210 and 101 Entertainment Countdown.
There are no current plans to replace Sonnenberg. The executives under his charge will now report to E! Networks chief operating officer Ken Bettsteller.
“All of us at E! Networks are deeply saddened by Mark’s decision to resign,” E! Networks CEO Ted Harbert said in a prepared statement, “but we respect his desire to take on a new challenge that will allow him to contribute his unique creative and business abilities to the entertainment industry,”
Sonnenberg joined E! from Intertainer Inc., where he was executive vice president, content and marketing.
His career also includes time at pay-per-view purveyor In Demand, where he served as executive vice president of entertainment, and a six-year stint at Fox, principally with FX.
At E! Networks, Sonnenberg was reunited with Mindy Herman, the company’s former president and CEO. The pair also worked together at Fox and In Demand.
Last summer, E! majority owner Comcast Corp. tapped Harbert — a longtime executive at the ABC Television Network and a former colleague of Comcast Cable Communications Inc. president Steve Burke — to replace Herman as head of E! and Style.
