Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Kathleen Finch, CEO of its U.S. cable networks group, is retiring.

The company last week took a $9 billion write-down against its cable networks, whose value has declined as cord-cutting has eroded profits and revenues.

Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, will run the U.S. networks business when Finch departs at year-end.

Finch was a top programming executive at Scripps Networks when it was acquired by Discovery, and was Discovery’s top programmer when it acquired WarnerMedia from AT&T.

“It has been an honor to spend the past 25 years at Scripps, Discovery, and now Warner Bros. Discovery,” Finch said. “I began my journey at the fledgling Food Network and am so proud to have helped turn it into a cable powerhouse, and then to lead the team developing some of the most addictive unscripted franchises across HGTV and TLC, creating household names out of chefs and house flippers, and capturing the cultural conversation with real-life stories.” 

Warner Bros. Discovery has been cutting costs under CEO David Zaslav. The company’s stock price is $7.34 a share, up a bit from its 52-week low of $6.64 a share, but down about half of its 52-week high and more than $20 a share in 2022. 

“There is no one better at developing captivating content, compelling talent, and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our premier entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse,” Zaslav said. 

“While I understand her longstanding decision to retire, I will certainly miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefitted from her unmatched collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave,” he added. “Channing is an unparalleled creative executive who has shepherded countless award-winning hit shows. She has the ideal expertise and experience — as a content developer, platform programmer and network executive — to lead the U.S. networks.” 

When talk of Discovery and WarnerMedia coming together first started going down, Kathleen Finch said she was “hugely excited” about the prospect. Besides the potential merger of two content behemoths, Finch noted how Discovery Networks, including HGTV, Food Network and TLC, skewed female, while Warner Bros. leaned slightly male. 

A combined Warner Bros. and Discovery would give the group the opportunity to serve up content to just about everybody. 

“It felt like such a great complementary set of incredible assets,” Finch said. 

The merger creating Warner Bros. Discovery happened last April, and Finch got her new title, overseeing two dozen networks including Discovery Channel, TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network. Back when Discovery acquired Scripps Networks in 2018, Finch, as chief lifestyle brands officer, oversaw a dozen. 

A Big Portfolio

She takes the expanded workload in stride. “I don’t think anybody goes into
this business thinking it’s 9 to 5,” she said, “because it’s not.”

Finch is excited by the clout the joint portfolio yields. She mentioned how, on any given night, the group controls 30% of what people are watching on cable. When Discovery needed a host for “Shark Week,” there were talks with Warner Bros. Pictures, and it came up that Dwayne Johnson had an upcoming movie and might be game for a dip in the Discovery water. He was named Shark Week master of ceremonies, the first one to hold that title.

Warner Bros. Discovery has entertainment, sports and news. “We have a big presence in every single place you can be,” said Finch.

David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO, said the company has the right person calling the programming shots. “Kathleen has a long track record of building strong brands that really stand for something and act as beacons of curation for content that people love,” he said. “She has an innate ability to spot the kinds of stories, formats and characters that people want to spend time with. Over the years, she has taken a chance on a long list of new shows that became hits, and she has always encouraged the same imaginative thinking from her teams.” 

Finch grew up in New York City’s Greenwich Village and graduated from Stanford. Her first full-time job was with Apple Computer, producing videos about why people should consider getting a home computer. Finch recalled Steve Jobs walking around the office. “If I had only known,” she quipped. 

After shifting to television, she was president of HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country, then became chief programming, content and brand officer at Discovery, then chief lifestyle brands officer after the Scripps Networks acquisition. 

Finch described herself as “queen of the TV junkies.” She mentioned what it’s like watching TV at home. “I do make my poor husband crazy, literally jumping to three or four networks at once,” she said. 

With the merger approaching its one-year anniversary, Finch said the execs are looking to take advantage of the audience overlap, rather than seeing the various networks compete with each other. With Animal Planet airing the Puppy Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday, the event was simulcast on Discovery, Discovery Plus, TBS and HBO Max. TruTV’s Impractical Jokers also airs on TBS for season 10. 

“We’re excited about all the experimenting,” she said, “to see where we can really double down.”

Cultural Connection

The marriage of corporate cultures, never an easy maneuver to pull off, has gone smoothly, Finch said. She credits Zaslav for stressing to employees that it’s not my culture or your culture — it’s our culture. “We didn’t have time to sit and overthink culture,” she said. “We focused on how to build a new culture that’s supportive and inclusive of what everybody is working on.”

Warner Bros. Discovery is “100% there,” she added. “It happened remarkably fast.”

Finch credits Judy Girard, former HGTV president, as a mentor, and actively looks to mentor young people seeking to grow in television. Speaking at a New York University media class recently, she gave out her email, and urged the students to stay in contact. Finch remembered senior executives helping her out when she was young and hungry for a break.

“When I’m lecturing young people, I tell them, I’m spending my time helping you,” Finch said. “And I expect that when you’re in my position, you’ll do the same for others.” ■

Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group  will be reorganized under Kathleen Finch, chairman and chief content officer, with long-time Discovery executive Nancy Daniels adding responsibility for TBS, TNT and truTV.

Those former Turner networks had been overseen by Brett Weitz, who is leaving WBD, the company confirmed.

Also leaving is Tom Ascheim, who oversaw WarnerMedia's Kids and Young Adults business. 

That business is being split into three sections, with Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen adding Cartoon Network and Boomerang to his portfolio. Pola Changnon, who is general manager of Turner Classic Movies and had been reporting to Ascheim, now reports to Finch. The Warner Bros. Animation/CN Studios Group, which also reported to Ascheim, will be headed by Sam Register and become part of the Warner Bros. TV Studios group under Channing Dungey.

Finch is also centralizing the group’s marketing, communications/public relations and content strategy/scheduling operations. Previously individual network groups had their own operations handling those functions.

Finch told staffers in a memo that in addition to creating a less layered organization, WBD’s networks will benefit from a more collaborative and strategic approach to how it schedules and markets its content.

“With so many top networks in our portfolio, we have the ability to synchronize programming schedules across multiple brands and then market those networks in an advantageous way, strategically moving audiences from one tentpole to another — and from one network to another — in a seamless, coordinated fashion,” Finch said.

The centralized units will be headed by Audrey Adlam, group senior VP, communications & public relations, U.S. Networks; Karen Bronzom, chief marketing officer, U.S. Networks; and Julie Taylor, chief of content strategy & insights, U.S. Networks.

All three report to Finch.

Johanna Fuentes, who was head of global communications for WarnerMedia’s studio and networks, also left the company.

Under the new content lineup, all of the brand leaders also will report directly to Finch.

The new brand leader lineup includes:

• Daniels, who now oversees Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science, TBS, TNT & truTV; 
• Jane Latman, in charge of HGTV, Food Network & Cooking Channel; 
• Howard Lee at TLC & Travel Channel; 
• Ouweleen, running Adult Swim, Cartoon Network & Boomerang; 
• Tina Perry, head of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network; and
• Jason Sarlanis, heading ID & Investigative Content.

The flattened organization will also include reductions in head counts. Warner Bros. Discovery has promised Wall Street $3 billion in cost savings. ■

Discovery, Inc. has named Courtney White to head up Food Network, the company said Monday.

As president of Food Network, White will oversee the company’s food brands. Former president of HGTV and Food Network Allison Page will now concentrate on HGTV going forward, according to Discovery. Page will also continue to work closely with former Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines as they work toward launching their own TV network in tandem with Discovery.

White, formerly executive vice president and general manger of HGTV and Food Network, will relocate to New York from Knoxville, Tenn. She became senior vice president of programming for Travel Channel in late 2015 after serving as vice president of program development and production for HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country.

“Courtney has been instrumental to the growth of both Food Network and HGTV, turning talented home experts and everyday chefs into treasured, household names,” said Kathleen Finch, chief lifestyle brands officer for Discovery, to whom White will report. “With her strategic eye on Food Network and Allison’s on HGTV, we’ll ensure these iconic brands continue to delight our passionate fans and maximize their unique value to our advertising and affiliate partners.”

Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Thursday named Scripps Network Interactive executive Kathleen Finch as its “Woman of the Year,” the organization’s highest individual accolade.

Finch, chief programming content & brand officer for Scripps, will receive the "Woman of the Year" award – given to a leader who has made increasingly significant contributions throughout her career to her company and the overall cable telecommunications industry – during WICT’s  Sept. 19 Touchstones Luncheon in New York in conjunction with the annual WICT Leadership Conference that's part of Cable's Diversity Week.

Also at the luncheon WICT will honor Laura Gentile, senior vice president, espnW and Women's Initiatives at ESPN and Mary McLaughlin, senior vice president, Beltway Region for Comcast Cable, with its "Women to Watch" award, which recognizes leaders who show tremendous promise for transforming the industry through her professional accomplishments.

"WICT is proud to recognize and honor these three highly accomplished professionals," said Maria Brennan, CAE, president & CEO, WICT in a statement. "All of our honorees exemplify the WICT Touchstones of Leadership and offer other women compelling role models to emulate. We look forward to showcasing their achievements during this year's Touchstones Luncheon as part of Diversity Week 2016."

Deirdre O’Hearn was put in charge of programming and development for Food Network and Cooking Channel with the departure of Bob Tuschman, her boss, on Jan. 31.

The moves follow the departure of long-time Food Network president Brooke Johnson last year.

With Johnson gone, the creative direction of Food Network is now overseen by Kathleen Finch, who in August was named chief programming, content and brand officer, for Scripps Networks Interactive, parent of both Food and Cooking.

O’Hearn, known as Didi, is senior VP of programming and development and will report to Finch.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.