Pearlena Igbokwe has been named President of Universal Television, effective immediately.

The announcement was made by Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment, who oversees the studio and to whom Igbokwe will continue to report.

“Pearlena’s remarkable track record in drama programming at NBC over the last few years made it clear that she was the ideal choice to lead the studio into its next phase of growth,” said Salke. “Her leadership, vision and taste have resulted in an impressive string of drama successes – from “The Blacklist,” “Blindspot,” “Chicago Med,” “Shades of Blue” and the upcoming series “This Is Us,” “Timeless” and “Taken” – that coincides with our return to a top position among networks. Pearlena also comes to the job with a wealth of experience in television movies and comedy and we have no doubt she will lead our prolific studio forward in a dynamic way.”

Igbokwe came to NBC Entertainment in 2012 as Executive Vice President, Drama Development. Over the last four years, she led the charge in bringing NBC a strong drama lineup that often wins the 10 p.m. time period and has also made NBC more competitive at both 8 and 9 p.m.

Igbokwe arrived at NBC after a distinguished career for two decades in programming at Showtime Networks. She supervised dozens of high-quality television movies at the pay cabler before transitioning into drama and comedy series development. Highlights of her series hits at Showtime range from “Dexter” to “Nurse Jackie,” both among the most critically acclaimed and award-winning shows in cable television.

Igbokwe’s naming follows another high profile TV promotion earlier this year of a black woman executive to a top position; as you should recall, Channing Dungey was named president of ABC, becoming the Entertainment Group’s first African American president.

Universal Television is one of the largest television production companies in the United States. The studio currently produces more than 20 primetime series as well as late night and reality programs for a variety of network, cable, and digital platforms. Acclaimed series produced by Universal Television include “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Mindy Project,” “Master of None,” “Bates Motel,” “The Path,” “Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med,” among numerous others, and all of NBC’s successful late-night programs. Universal Television is a division of NBCUniversal, which develops, produces and markets the best entertainment, news and information to a global audience.

Pearlena Igbokwe

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