Burnett announced the news to staff in an internal memo, which IndieWire has obtained and can be read below. Burnett has been with MGM Television for eight years, when he was named president of MGM Television. He was named chairman in 2018. Under his direction, MGM Television vastly expanded its output by acquiring production companies like Evolution Media, which develops shows in the “Real Housewives Franchise,” and Big Fish Entertainment.

A 12-time Emmy Award winner, Burnett is one of the most experienced producers in the business, having produced hundreds of television shows for multiple cable networks, streaming, and all four main network channels. After his first big show, CBS’ “Survivor,” he produced popular reality series, including “The Apprentice,” “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?,” “Shark Tank,” “The Voice,” “Beat Shazam,” “Coupled,” and “TKO: Total Knock Out.” Other major shows from Burnett include “Fargo” on FX and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the first streaming series to win Best Drama at the Emmys. Related ‘Riches’ Imagines a ‘Succession’ Scenario Where Big Business Is Good Jeffrey Wright to Star in ‘Erasure’ Adaptation for MGM’s Orion Pictures Related 17 HBO and HBO Max Original Series to Get Excited About in 2023 Oscars 2023: Best Visual Effects Predictions
Read Burnett’s memo below. Dear Colleagues, We’ve worked together for a very long time, in some cases for decades. We’ve innovated new shows and maintained our legacy hits with one of the highest renewal rates in global television. I get a lot of praise for that. But we all know it’s not about me. It’s about all of you. It takes great teams of talented people to produce more than 3,200 total hours of television including long-running hits like Survivor, The Voice and Shark Tank and innovative scripted series like The Bible, which together have garnered 143 EMMY nominations. In 2014 I sold a majority of my companies to MGM and came to this storied, 100 year-old studio as President of Television. Later I sold the rest of my companies for MGM stock and became Chairman of MGM Global Television because I believed in the value of MGM. I had a clear strategic vision to build and grow MGM’s television division with my dynamic team, which included buying great companies like Evolution and Big Fish, adding international scripted and unscripted teams, and starting a documentaries unit. We took calibrated risks and hired great people – and the business grew.

Now, after months of collaborative transition efforts, we have thoughtfully re- organized our teams so that they all have the opportunity to prosper under the leadership of Mike Hopkins, Jennifer Salke and Christopher Brearton. In these days of media layoffs I am proud to say that everyone in the TV division has been offered a way to continue to contribute. No one was left behind. Thanks team – I literally could not have done any of this without each of you. Mark Burnett. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.