Starz Executive VP of Programming Marta Fernandez to Step Down

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Marta Fernandez is exiting her role as executive vice president of original programming at Starz, Variety has learned.

Fernandez was elevated to her current role in December. She first joined in 2007 and has shepherded shows such as “Spartacus,” “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” “Black Sails” and “Da Vinci’s Demons.” Her current roster of shows includes “Vida,” “American Gods,” and the upcoming ““P-Valley.” Fernandez has also been responsible for leading the company’s inclusion initiatives.

Sources say Fernandez will be assuming a lead executive role at another company.

It was announced in February that Starz head Chris Albrecht would be stepping down amid increasing integration between Starz and parent company Lionsgate. The company said at the time it planned to move forward under current COO Jeffrey Hirsch and the current leadership team, working closely with Jon Feltheimer

It was also recently reported that CBS made an informal bid of $5 billion to acquire Starz from Lionsgate. Lionsgate had purchased the premium cable brand for $4.4 billion back in 2016. Should that deal come to fruition, it would be the latest in a string of high-profile mergers and acquisitions to rock the entertainment world in recent years. Most recently, Disney acquired many of the assets of 21st Century Fox, while AT&T completed its acquisition of TimeWarner.

Starz recently announced that the upcoming sixth season of hits hit series “Power” will be the show’s last , with plans already in place to develop new series set in the world of the show. Meanwhile. “American Gods” has been renewed for a third season , with Charles “Chic” Eglee taking over as showrunner and executive producer from Jesse Alexander.