Showtime gets new president

NEW YORK, June 28 (UPI) -- U.S. television producer and network programming executive David Nevins has been named president of entertainment at Showtime Networks Inc.

The announcement was made Monday by Matthew C. Blank, Showtime's chairman and chief executive officer, to whom Nevins will report.

Nevins will succeed Robert Greenblatt, who announced he will leave the network after completing his current contract in July.

Nevins, who has served as president of Imagine Television since 2002, will be responsible for developing, acquiring and supervising all aspects of programming for all of the Showtime Networks channels. He will be based in Los Angeles and begin his new position later this summer.

"David's career has been punctuated by genre-defining programming at every turn and (he) has the perfect creative sensibility for Showtime Networks' next exciting chapter," Blank said in a statement. "At the same time, I have to say that Bob Greenblatt is one of the finest executives in the business and has developed some of the most extraordinary original programming of the past decade. His legacy has us grateful and well-positioned for the company's future."

Greenblatt thanked Blank for his "unconditional support."

"During the last seven years, we've managed to reinvigorate Showtime as a vital, attention-getting network, which is now known as a destination for some of the best, most original series anywhere on television," Greenblatt said. "Showtime's programming line-up is directly responsible for the network's remarkable growth and has brought wide-ranging critical acclaim.

"I leave exceedingly proud that Showtime now stands as a vibrant, exciting, groundbreaking network and I predict it will remain so for many years to come."