• by Paul Gough , January 6, 2004

The head of Fox Television Entertainment Group announced his resignation Monday to start his own Fox-based production company.

Sandy Grushow is a 20-year Fox veteran who helped build the network in the late 1980s and then returned in 1999 to see it challenge NBC for last season's lead in the coveted 18-49 demographic. Grushow, along with Fox TV Entertainment President Gail Berman, catapulted the underachieving network to shock the media industry with such come-out-of-nowhere hits as "American Idol" and last year's "Joe Millionaire." It won the February and May sweeps last TV season on the strength of "Idol" and "Millionaire."

Grushow, whose contract as chairman of Fox Television Entertainment Group was to expire over the summer, will start a production company called Phase Two. It's backed by Twentieth Century Fox, another News Corp. division. He's not going to be replaced, according to reports. In a statement released Monday afternoon by Fox, Grushow said that leaving Fox TV was a difficult decision.

"As I contemplated my future over the holidays, I concluded that it was in my best interest to exercise the 'production' option negotiated as part of my current contract rather than entering into another long-term executive agreement with the company," Grushow said.

Peter Chernin, chairman and chief executive officer of the Fox Group, said he'd miss Grushow.

"Sandy's determination and savvy leadership over these past years have helped make the network and studio what they are today," Chernin said.

Grushow was named chairman of Fox TV in November 1999. He joined Fox in 1988 as senior vice president of advertising and promotion when the network was in its infancy. He has also been executive vice president and president of Fox Entertainment Group. From 1997 to 1999, Grushow was president of Twentieth Century Fox Television and oversaw such shows as "The Practice," "Dharma and Greg," "The X-Files," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He started his career as an intern at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and left as vice president of creative advertising.