By Joe Flint 

Mike Lombardo, the creative executive behind some of HBO's biggest successes including "Game of Thrones," is leaving the network by the end of this year.

An HBO veteran of over 30 years and president of programming since 2007, Mr. Lombardo said he is finalizing a new production venture affiliated with the Time Warner Inc. unit. He is credited with revitalizing HBO's programming after the halcyon days of "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos" ended.

Available in close to 30 million homes in the U.S. and 130 million world-wide, HBO is one of the key revenue generators for Time Warner. For the first quarter, HBO had revenue of $1.5 billion and operating income of $486 million. It recently launched a digital direct-to-consumer platform that has close to one million subscribers.

HBO is also facing increased competition for viewers and content. Not only are cable networks such as AMC and FX spending more on original programming, but streaming services including Netflix have also emerged as serious rivals.

In an interview, Mr. Lombardo said he and HBO Chief Executive Richard Plepler had been talking about his stepping down for the past nine months. In that time, Mr. Lombardo has made some moves in reshaping HBO's programming team in anticipation of his departure. While no successor has been named, earlier this year Casey Bloys was promoted to president of series, late-night and specials for HBO. He previously had overseen the network's comedy efforts.

"I'm not a guy who easily makes changes," Mr. Lombardo said of his decision. As HBO's production levels increased, he said, he felt himself drifting further away from the creative side of the business. "What I've found is that I've really enjoyed working with talent and I don't get to do that as much or as deeply as I want to."

Among the shows Mr. Lombardo championed were the hit dramas "True Blood" and "Boardwalk Empire" and the comedies "Veep," and "Girls" as well as numerous critically acclaimed movies and documentaries including last year's "The Jinx" about accused murderer and New York City real estate scion Robert Durst. Last year, HBO won 43 Emmy Awards, making it the most-awarded network for the 14th consecutive year.

There have also been some big misses as of late. "Vinyl," a highly-anticipated and expensive drama about the 1970s New York music scene that counted filmmaker Martin Scorsese and rock icon Mick Jagger among its executive producers made its debut to disappointing ratings and reviews. The network is bringing back but has plans to significantly retool the show, which counts among its stars Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde and Ray Romano. Another misfire was the second season of "True Detective."

Earlier this year, HBO canceled the relationship comedy "Togetherness" after only two seasons. "The Leftovers," a drama based on Tom Perrotta's best-selling novel that failed to deliver strong ratings for the channel will finish its run later this year after three seasons. HBO has also been plagued with behind-the-scenes problems at several other projects that it was counting on to deliver big ratings, including a miniseries on explorers Lewis and Clark and a drama from producer J.J. Abrams based on the science fiction cult classic "Westworld."

Among the projects still on Mr. Lombardo's to-do list are new efforts from Jon Stewart, the former host of Comedy Central's "Daily Show" and Bill Simmons, the popular sports and pop culture commentator. HBO is also planning a daily newscast with Vice Media LLC.

News of Mr. Lombardo's departure was reported earlier by Variety.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2016 20:06 ET (00:06 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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