Longtime Country Music Television leader Brian Philips told his co-workers Thursday that he is leaving the network whose audience he grew on the back of a move into drama series.

Phillips took the reins at CMT in 2001 as senior vice president and general manager, joining from radio player Susquehanna Broadcasting, where he had directed FM programming for Dallas and Atlanta. He was named president of the network, which is owned by Viacom, in 2009.