EXCLUSIVE: Change is coming at NBCUniversal.
As the company prepares for a broad restructure across its television business, Deadline understands that unscripted chief Corie Henson is leaving the company.
Henson has been EVP, Unscripted Content, Competition and Game Shows, NBCUniversal Entertainment and oversees series such as NBC staples such as America’s Got Talent and The Voice as well as Peacock hits The Traitors and Love Island. NBCUniversal declined to comment.
Henson, a popular figure in the unscripted community who joined NBCU in 2022, is departing as Donna Langley puts her stamp on the TV side of the business.
Tomorrow, Langley, who is Chairman, NBCUniversal Studios & Entertainment, is expected to reveal that Pearlena Igbokwe, who is currently chairman of Universal Studio Group, will take charge of NBC – one of the worst kept secrets in the TV business over the last six months. Frances Berwick, who is Chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment, is expected to segue into a new role that encompasses overseeing Bravo – the network where she made her name – and reality programming.
Over the last two and a half years, Henson has overseen reality competition, talent competition and game show formats across NBCU’s Entertainment portfolio, including NBC, Bravo, E!, Oxygen True Crime, Syfy, USA Network and Peacock.
However, NBCU owner Comcast recently announced that many of these networks – E!, Oxygen True Crime, Syfy and USA Network – will now sit under a new company, which has been known as SpinCo.
Henson’s big win at NBC has been Deal or No Deal Island, a new spin on the classic game show that just returned for a second season after strong ratings for its first season. She also greenlit Destination X, a major new adventure format that is expected to launch later this year and will likely be the first of a number of interesting international co-productions and deals.
Before NBCU, Henson worked at Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. She was previously EVP, Head of Unscripted for TBS, TNT and truTV before she decided to leave following Warner Bros.’ merger with Discovery. There, she oversaw series such as the reboot of Wipeout, The Go-Big Show and The Cube as well as Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, the Warner Bros-produced, Helen Mirren-fronted competition series that performed well for TBS and Cartoon Network.
Before Turner, she was EVP, Alternative Entertainment at Fox and before that was EVP, Unscripted Television at Electus and VP, Alternative Series at ABC Entertainment.
