A Nigerian woman Pearlena Igbokwe has been picked as the new head of NBCUniversal’s global television studio business.
The latest shake-up at the studio sees her take over from Bonnie Hammer.
The promotion will make her one of the most senior black women in the entertainment business.
The Nigerian will oversee the company’s growing global television studio business, including Universal Television, Universal Content Productions (UCP) and NBCUniversal International Studios and will report directly to NBCUniversal chief executive Jeff Shell, the company said on Wednesday.
“Our television studios are key growth engines for the company, and Pearlena is ideally suited to lead them. She has extraordinary taste and is well-respected within NBC,” Shell said in a statement.
Since 2016, Igbokwe has been president of Universal Television, where she oversaw all aspects of the studio business and helped shepherd such popular TV shows as Russian Doll, The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
The longtime TV executive joined NBC Entertainment in 2012 as executive vice president for drama development after working for 20 years as a programming executive for CBS Corp’s Showtime Networks.
There, she helped develop hit series, including Dexter and Nurse Jackie.
