Hulu CEO Hopkins stepping down, taking over as chair of Sony Pictures Television

Hulu announced today that CEO Mike Hopkins will be leaving the company to assume the role of chairman of Sony Pictures Television.

Hopkins is departing Hulu after serving as CEO of the company since 2013. He will be replaced by Randy Freer, who currently serves on the Hulu board and has been president and COO of Fox Networks Group since 2013.

“Hulu is at the center of transformation in entertainment. Hulu’s management team and employees have positioned Hulu to be a leader in defining the future of content creation, distribution and monetization—all while putting the viewer first. I’d like to thank Hulu’s Board for this exciting opportunity,” said Freer in a statement.

Hopkins departs Hulu after presiding over an era that saw the company grow its slate of original productions—which culminated this year in an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for “The Handmaid’s Tale”—and launch its own live TV streaming service.

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At Sony, Hopkins will oversee television production, distribution and marketing operations globally for the studio, as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment’s media networks business.

The company said that Hopkins’ appointment represents a structural change in the current reporting lines of the SPE’s television businesses. Moving forward, the heads of SPT’s domestic and international television production, distribution, advertiser sales and research, marketing and Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks will now report to Hopkins, according to a release.

Hopkins is stepping into the chairman role at Sony after Steven Mosko left the company. This year, Sony Pictures Television also lost Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, its two top remaining TV executives, who left to join the original programming effort getting underway at Apple.