A Black Woman, Pearlena Igbokwe, Named Head of Universal Television

Pearlena Igbokwe is now the president of Universal Television, the production arm of the NBC television network, Shadow and Act reports.

On Friday the president of NBC Entertainment, Jennifer Salke, made the announcement. “Pearlena’s remarkable track record in drama programming at NBC over the last few years made it clear that she was the ideal choice to lead the studio into its next phase of growth,” Salke said. “Her leadership, vision and taste have resulted in an impressive string of drama successes—from The Blacklist, Blindspot, Chicago Med, Shades of Blue and the upcoming series This Is Us, Timeless and Taken—that coincides with our return to a top position among networks.”

Shadow and Act reports that Igbokwe came to NBC Entertainment four years ago as executive vice president of drama development. Before that, Igbokwe spent 20 years at Showtime Networks, beginning with television movies and then moving into drama development, where she worked on classics such as Dexter and Nurse Jackie. Igbokwe is a graduate of Yale and Columbia Business School.

Another black woman, Channing Dungey, became the first African-American TV network president when she was named to the top post at ABC in February.

Igbokwe replaces Bela Bajaria, who abruptly left her post this week after five years on the job.

Read more at Shadow and Act.