NBC appoints execs, renames TV studio

NBC Entertainment has made a number of key exec appointments at its TV studio wing, which has been renamed Universal Television.Erin Underhill moves from current programming at NBC to senior veep of drama at Universal Television, reporting to Russell Rothberg, who will head the studio's drama department. Laura Lancaster will continue to oversee drama for the network side.Tracey Pakosta joins Universal TV as senior veep of comedy after most recently serving as head of Craig Ferguson's CBS-based production banner, Green Mountain West. There will be another comedy exec to be named shortly.Beth Klein has also joined the studio as senior veep of casting. She most recently held the same post at Showtime.The appointments come as NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt has promised to ramp up activity at the studio, including producing for outside networks. His first move toward that end was hiring CBS veteran Bela Bajaria as exec veep of the studio in July.With Underhill and Rothberg shifting from the network to the studio, Greenblatt will likely make two additional hires on the network side to fill those slots.The moniker change from Universal Media Studios is a nod to the studio's legacy as a powerhouse TV supplier that dominated network skeds in the 1960s and '70s.The studio has undergone several name changes over the past few decades. Originally titled Universal Television, it has also been known as Studios USA, Universal Network TV, NBC Universal TV Studio, Universal Media Studios and, finally, back to Universal Television."We are excited to embark on the rebuilding of the studio," said Bajaria. "This group brings a wide range of experience, great creative relationships and a strong belief in the studio business. We look forward to working in partnership with the creative community to produce quality shows for a variety of networks under the Universal Television banner." For the impending new TV season, the network has a handful of shows produced inhouse: "Prime Suspect," "Smash" "Grimm" on the drama side and comedies "Whitney," "Up All Night," "Free Agents," "Bent" and "Best Friends Forever."Right now the only non-NBC series produced by Universal Television is Fox's longtime Fox staple "House," which recently renewed its deal with the network. The execs shifting to the studio that the Peacock is making it a priority to have full-service studio that can provide shows to outside broadcast and cable nets.Said Greenblatt: "Content creation is vitally important, and this new group will supervise all of the studio's current programming as well as plan for our expansion into the future."Peacock also has Universal Cable Prods. unit, which produces normally less expensive cable-only fare. While it currently has two shows that air outside the NBC family - "I Just Want My Pants Back" for MTV and "Against the Wall" on Lifetime - it produces a handful of shows on USA Network and Syfy.Rothberg joined the network and studio in 2009 after a five-year run at Fox. In his tenure at Fox, he oversaw a handful of shows, including "House," "Bones" and "American Dad." NBC series under his watch include newbies "Awake" and "Prime Suspect." Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

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