New Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara made his first big moves since taking over the media giant. He restructured the TV and home entertainment arms, promoting within and pushing out rivals.
“This is all about redesigning the company and how we do what we do,” Tsujihara said about the moves in an interview with the LA Times. “One of the key goals we want to accomplish is running this company as one. We all work for Warner Bros.”
The big news was the departure of Bruce Rosenblum, who was the president of Warner Bros. TV, the studio arm behind The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and other big network hits. According to The New York Times, he was a 25-year veteran of the studio and was a favorite to take the CEO post, but his departure was expected after Tsujihara got the job. (Deadline had reported that Rosenblum was finally on his way out on Sunday.)
“Bruce has been a friend and a colleague of mine for many years, and his contributions to this company -- and to the industry -- should not be glossed over in all of this,” Tsujihara told the LA Times.
The TV studio will now be run by Peter Roth, Craig Hunegs and Jeffrey Schlesinger.
Thomas Gewecke was named the head of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, according to the release posted at Deadline. Tsujihara worked to consolidate the digital distribution operations as that aspect of the business continues to grow in importance and Gewecke will be responsible for that.
Ron Sanders will be president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Home Entertainment Distribution. DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson will now have to handle video game development and distribution.
No changes were made at the film studio, with Tsujihara keeping Jeff Robinov as president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group.