Ex-MTV CEO McGrath steps down from Sony prodco as Embassy Row steps in

Former MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath will leave her chief executive role at Astronauts Wanted, the youth-skewed prodco she co-founded with Sony Music.

The US production outfit will to move from Sony Music to Embassy Row, the Sony Pictures Television-owned prodco behind Netflix’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (pictured).

McGrath was a key figure at MTV Networks (now Viacom Media Networks) for three decades, and was chairman and chief executive between 2004 and 2009. She is now on the board of SVOD player Amazon.

She launched Astronauts Wanted in 2013 with plans to create a female-focused firm akin to Vice Media, with plans to push into high-end scripted content, along with commercials, branded shows and youth-skewed content.

However, the company was unable get any linear network dramas to series, only getting a pilot, Socio, away with MTV, as Variety, which first broke the news, reported.

It did produce eight-part female sketch comedy Sorry Not Sorry for Complex Networks and content for Verizon’s Go90 service.

McGrath will remain executive producer on upcoming projects and act as a consultant, with Embassy Row president and CEO Michael Davies overseeing the business.