HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler is leaving the pay cable network after 27 years

The Hollywood Reporter

Plepler, who joined HBO in 1992 and was appointed its chairman and CEO in 2013, announced his departure two days after it was reported that WarnerMedia was interested in hiring former NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt in a new role potentially overseeing HBO and Turner. Longtime Turner president David Levy is also expected to leave. Variety reports, based on a high-ranking source, that Plepler and Levy "have grown agitated as WarnerMedia continued to consider changes that could include combining HBO and Turner in which a significant number of redundant jobs would be eliminated." As The Hollywood Reporter points out, during Plepler's time at HBO, "'Home Box Office' become the premiere generator of prestige TV content and a global brand with few contemporaries." According to The New York Times, WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey's "blunt statements did not sit well with some (HBO) employees. And Mr. Plepler, who had grown accustomed to running his own shop, seemed to chafe under his new boss from the start." UPDATE: Turner president David Levy is also out: "The two longtime executives have both been squeezed as the AT&T-owned company reconfigures its executive suite and refines its plans for an ambitious new streaming service launching by the end of the year," reports Deadline's Dade Hayes. "Bob Greenblatt is reportedly in line for a senior executive position, reporting to AT&T entertainment chief John Stankey, which essentially would have made Levy and Plepler obsolete."