Over
the past six months, WB president and chief operating officer Jed
Petrick has been like the third person on a blind date meant for
two.
At some point, you get uncomfortable and want to leave. Petrick,
long uncomfortable, is leaving.
Passed over last fall for a promotion and shuttled behind WB co-CEO
Jordan Levin after nine years at the network, Petrick said yesterday
that he will leave the WB in April, two years before his contract is up.
The decision wasn’t the surprise that Fox chief Sandy Grushow’s exit
just one day before was.
The only similarity is that both executives made their decisions
to leave as 2003 was ending.
Petrick had been weighing his departure since the
reorganization last fall that saw the return of the network’s founding
entertainment president, Garth Ancier, as chairman.
Shortly after, WB founder Jamie Kellner said he would exit in May and
named then-entertainment president Levin his successor, with the two of
them sharing the CEO post until then.
Petrick, the network’s original head of ad sales who rose
to president and COO in 2001, understandably felt left out, especially
considering his long relationship with Kellner, with whom he has worked
at Fox, along with Ancier.
Under the structuring, Petrick began reporting to Levin.
Petrick asked Levin in late December to be let out of his contract
early, and Levin agreed.
Petrick’s main credits at the WB were bringing the Japanese cartoon
sensation “Pokemon” to the network and working deals with affiliate
stations to run WB repeats in a two-hour block Sunday nights, which
helped balance programming costs.
Yet Petrick exits at a rather distressing time for the WB. After a very
strong performance last year, the network is down 16 percent season to
date among adults 18-49 and 7 percent among households.
It
faces major programming deficits, with all of its new comedies
struggling and drama “Tarzan” canceled less than two months into its
run, and scheduling difficulties, with this year’s revamp of Tuesday
and Wednesday nights netting only viewer drain.
The
network has not said whether it will replace Petrick, and with Ancier,
Levin and Kellner wedged in at the top right now, it may not have to any
time soon.
