Fox Taps Regency Television Exec as Programming Chief

News Corp. has again looked within to find the latest executive who will pass through the Fox network’s revolving door, with Gail Berman to become its president of entertainment in July.

Berman, 43, currently heads Regency Television, an entity half-owned by News Corp.’s Fox Television Studios and producer Arnon Milchan’s New Regency Productions. Her 2-year-old division provided Fox its biggest hit of the just-concluded television season, the quirky comedy series “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Fox has rifled through half a dozen programming chiefs in the last decade, with Doug Herzog--who previously worked at Comedy Central--surviving a mere 15 months before resigning in March.

Herzog represented a rare outside recruit for Fox, which in the past tapped entertainment chiefs Peter Roth, John Matoian and Sandy Grushow from within the studio’s executive ranks.

Berman, who debated whether to take the job, said she was undaunted by the network’s history of rapid turnover. “Nobody goes into anything like this worrying about longevity,” she said. “You just have to take your shot.”

The appointment of Berman--who will report to Grushow, now chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group--has been anticipated for months. In addition to “Malcolm,” Berman was involved in developing the Fox-produced drama “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” a hit for the Warner Bros.-backed WB network, as well as the upcoming Fox series “Fearsum,” whose production team includes a producer from the hit film “The Blair Witch Project.”

Fox finished the TV season in third place among adults 18 to 49, the age group most avidly sought by advertisers, with its audience declining roughly 18% in that demographic.

The network announced its revised prime-time schedule for next season last week, meaning it will be months before Berman can fully put her stamp on the development of new programs. Citing her background as a producer, she pledged a talent-friendly approach.

“I’d like [Fox] to be a network where creative people feel they can do their best work with as little creative interference as possible,” she said.

Berman began her career in the theater, producing such Broadway productions as “Hurlyburly” and “Blood Knot” in the 1980s.