Longtime television executive Peter Roth has signed a contract extension, upping him to the newly-created role of chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group.
Roth has overseen television production operations for Warner Bros. for 21 years, and has been serving as president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Television Group since May of 2013. He will continue to maintain creative responsibility for Warner Bros.’ scripted, unscripted and alternative series for U.S. broadcast networks, cable and streaming services.
His promotion was announced Monday by Ann Sarnoff, chair and CEO of Warner Bros., to whom Roth will continue to report. Roth will also continue to work closely with Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution.
“Across the industry, Peter has the well-deserved reputation as a legend, and I have long been an admirer of his creative insight, deep relationships and unmatched passion for — and love of — all the people behind and in front of the camera, at the networks, and across the Studio who make Warner Bros. the most prolific TV producer in Hollywood,” Sarnoff said.
“It’s fitting to recognize his many contributions to the company, and we’re grateful he will continue to lead our television production business as we expand our output to match the increased demand for programming by traditional and new outlets, including our own HBO Max.”
Roth’s track record for pulling in top talent includes signing exclusive overall deals with Chuck Lorre, Greg Berlanti, J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath’s Bad Robot Productions, Ava DuVernay, John Wells, Damon Lindelof, Mindy Kaling, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Elizabeth Banks, Bruno Heller, Michael Patrick King, Steve Molaro, Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Bill Lawrence, Bryan Cranston, David Nutter, Rob Thomas, Matt Miller, Robert Zemeckis and more.
Since joining the studio in March of 1999 as president of Warner Bros. Television, 32 of the scripted series that have been developed under his leadership have reached the 100 episode milestone, including the longest-running multi-cam comedy in history, “The Big Bang Theory,” as well as “Two and a Half Men,” “The West Wing,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Smallville,” “Gossip Girl,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Shameless,” “The Mentalist,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “Arrow,” “Mom,” “The Closer,” “Fringe,” “The Middle,” “George Lopez,” “The Flash,” “Mike & Molly,” “Person of Interest,” “Supernatural,” “Third Watch,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “One Tree Hill.”
His previous experience includes having served as president of Fox Entertainment and prior to that, president of Stephen J. Cannell Productions. His television career began in 1976 when he joined ABC as manager of children’s programs. There, he oversaw classic shows like “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Moonlighting” and “Dynasty.”