Longtime Crown Media programming and production executive Michelle Vicary will leave her position at the beginning of June, the network said Monday.

Vicary has served as executive VP of programming for Crown Media Networks since 2011, overseeing production and original programming for all of Crown Media’s platforms, including Hallmark Channel, according to the company. She was instrumental in developing such Hallmark scripted series as When Calls the Heart, Good Witch and Chesapeake Shores.

Crown Media has named Randy Pope, senior VP of programming and development, and Darren Melameth, senior VP, programming and content strategy, as interim co-leads while searching for a replacement, said Crown Media Family Networks CEO Wonya Lucas.

“We thank Michelle for her contributions to the growth and success of our networks and for helping to bring the quintessential Hallmark brand to life,” Lucas said in a statement. “We appreciate the passion and effort she has  brought to our team and to the company.”

Crown Media earlier this month named veteran programming executive Toni Judkins as its senior VP, programming and development for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Also Read: Telling Stories Sans Stereotype

Highly touted Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball won’t play his first nationally televised regular season National Basketball Association game until Oct. 19. But 8 million Facebook Watch users already know who Ball is — along with his loquacious father, LaVar, and his talented siblings — after they tuned in last month to the first episode of the social media site’s new sports reality series, Ball in the Family.

That makes Ball only the latest face both on the court and in a unique content sub-genre. Active and former professional athletes are scoring on the basic cable, reality docuseries field through popular, social media-friendly unscripted shows that focus on the often-unpublicized personal lives of players.

Series such as VH1’s long-running series Basketball Wives — which follows the wives, ex-wives and girlfriends of star NBA players — and E!’s Total Divas, which chronicles the out-of-ring exploits of pro wrestling outfit WWE’s female Superstars, are shining a rare, off-the-field spotlight on famous athletes that’s usually reserved for pop entertainment stars and celebrities.

Related: The Unscripted TV Issue >‘Live PD’ Draws Viewers, and Not All Watch Live

Network executives and show producers said such shows offer a one-two viewing punch by delivering female viewers attracted to the often salacious drama created between athletes and their significant others, and men who want to see their favorite players in a different light.

“We’ve seen tons of reality shows featuring celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, and their celebrity families, but to actually go behind the scenes of an athlete’s life and see what they go through is different,” said Jeff Jenkins, co-president of entertainment and development for Bunim/Murray Productions, which produces Total Divas. “They are trying to support their family; they’re trying to have romantic relationships; they’re trying to advance their careers — rarely do you see that side of them on the screen.”

Glimpse at an Athlete’s Home Team
Indeed, most sports-themed docuseries follow the lives of athletes as they pertain to the on-field action, whether its preparing for a big fight, competing in the heat of the action or basking in the glow of victory or the anguish of a loss. But for most sports-reality series, the field of play is a backdrop to the interactions athletes have with their spouses, girlfriends and families, far away from the bright lights of the stadium.

“Most people just see the athletes when they perform, but there’s a lot of interest in their personal lives,” said Amber Mazzola, president of Machete Productions, responsible for E!’s reality series franchise WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends of Sports Stars). “You see athletes like Tom Brady and [his wife] Gisele [Bündchen] in newspapers in the gossip section — people just love to hear about them on and off the court.”

Related: Reality Joins TV’s Revival Movement

E!’s WAGS L.A. series, which returns for a third season Nov. 1, has spawned two other series — WAGS Miami and WAGS Atlanta — and all of them follow the personal lives of such players as NFL stars Antonio Gates and Julius Peppers and UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. Mazzola said the show has found its niche with E!’s female-skewing fans, and male viewers enjoying a different glimpse at the players. 

“Our audience is still predominantly female, and I don’t think guys are really tuning into the drama of what these wives are going through, but I do think that the fact that these athletes are actually on the show is a draw,” Mazzola added. “I think that a lot of guys tune in because they want to see Julius Peppers or to see Antonio Gates because for them that’s really cool.”

Related: Women Get in the Game

Ball in the Family executive producer and Bunim/Murray Productions vice president of current programming Farnaz Farjam also said that the series, which launched on Facebook Sept. 1, has generated equal amounts of viewer feedback from men and women, although she would not offer up specific gender breakdown numbers.

She did say the first episode of the series drew 8 million streams, which exemplifies the growing audience interest in and fascination for the Los Angeles-based Ball family, much of which has been driven by the often-outlandish comments of father LaVar Ball regarding the talents of his three basketball-playing kids.

Bringing Fans to the Games
Such sports reality shows can turn more female viewers on to live sports content, Farjam said, adding that women may want to extend their experience with the series by watching the star athletes on the field of play.

“Of course guys will watch the games, but if their girlfriends are watching the series, then they’ll be more inclined to watch the Lakers because they’ve fallen in love with ’Zo,” she said.

Related: Spin It to Win It: Cable Networks Find Ratings Gold in Reality-Series Offshoots

Total Divas also generates strong co-viewing numbers for E!, as the cast of female WWE Superstars attract predominately male pro-wrestling fans as well as the network’s core female audience, according to Bunim/Murray’s Jenkins. Nearly four in 10 viewers (38%) of Total Divas' audience are male, the highest male composition across any of E!’s original franchises. Total Divas spinoff series Total Bellas has the second highest male compositon on the network with 32%, according to network officials.

The network will launch season seven of Total Divas on Nov. 1, with the season finale marking the show’s 100th episode.

E! hopes the upcoming season can match or surpass last year’s average 1 million viewers in Nielsen live-plus-3 ratings.

Other entertainment networks are looking to jump into the sports reality arena. Hallmark Channel will launch its first-ever, personality-focused reality series with the 2018 debut of Meet the Peetes, which focuses on the lives of former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete and his wife, actress Holly Robinson-Peete.

“When we think about programming that makes people feel good, celebrates the human spirit and family by telling a great story, Meet the Peetes fits all of those criteria,” Hallmark Network executive VP of programming Michelle Vicary said. “It is a family story about a father who was an NFL football player and a mom that’s an actor, but its also a family story that focuses on a mom and a dad that have an autistic son and have made it their life’s work to bring awareness around autism.”

Hallmark also hopes the series will add male viewers to its normally female-skewing audience. Along with the series, Rodney Peete will be involved in the network’s annual Super Bowl counterprogramming special, Kitten Bowl, according to Vicary.

“Rodney Peete is much beloved by sports fans, so I hope that men who are fans of his will come with their wives and sit and watch the series,” she said.

Bunim/Murray’s Jenkins believes that more networks are beginning to see the appeal of athlete-based reality series and will look to develop future series in the genre. One issue that could sack the genre’s forward momentum is whether athletes — as well as the organized sports they play for — will be willing to risk tarnishing their respective brands by airing an athlete’s potentially controversial personal life on television.

“I think if the individual athletes and the individual athletic organizations make themselves open to it, absolutely viewers, buyers and production companies want to do more of this type of programming,” Jenkins said, adding that the company is working on a potential reality docuseries with a retired Los Angeles Lakers player, although he would not reveal specifics.

“The fine line for those athletes and for those other organizations, however, is whether they can balance the image and brand and still allow a documentary crew to follow the ups and downs of a particular individual and organization.”

That, of course, would mean athletes and teams experiencing the kind of “winning” or “losing” only reality stars know about.

Hallmark Channel kicked off its two-month Christmas-themed programming lineup Sunday with 2.3 million viewers tuning into its original film `Tis The Season For Love.

The movie, which starred Sarah Lancaster as a city-dweller returning to her small hometown roots for the holidays, was the first of 16 original movies Hallmark will air over the next two months as part of its "Countdown to Christmas" programming stunt. Hallmark's holiday fare, which actually launched on Halloween on both Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, drew 18.1 million unduplicated viewers over the weekend, according to network officials. 

“Over the last 5 years, Hallmark Channel has become the undisputed leader in holiday programming and viewers can’t seem to get enough — so this year, we are raising the bar with our largest and most ambitious slate yet,” said Michelle Vicary, EVP, programming & network publicity, Crown Media Family Networks. “Sunday night’s results are an excellent way to kick off the campaign and we look forward to once again delivering on our promise for the very best in seasonal entertainment.”

More from Michelle Vicary on Hallmark's Christmas programming strategy:

MCN Original Video: One Question for ... Hallmark's Michelle Vicary | Hallmark Networks Can’t Wait for Christmas: A Q&A With Michelle Vicary [subscription required]

Halloween is around the corner, so what better time for Hallmark Channel to launch its “Countdown to Christmas” lineup of holiday-themed movies? The network will launch 55 continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment with the 1990s comedy classic Home Alone on Oct. 31. The next day, it will premiere ’Tis the Season for Love — the first of 16 original holiday-themed movies Hallmark will air through December.

Sister service Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will also use Halloween to launch its 1,497 hours of Christmas-themed movies as part of “The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas” holiday programming stunt, which includes four original telefilms. Hallmark Channel is coming off a record-setting 2014 “Countdown to Christmas,” which drew 74 million viewers and generated the network’s most-watched movie of all time, Christmas Under Wraps, at 6.3 million viewers (per Nielsen live-plus three day ratings).

Crown Media Family Networks executive vice president of programming and network publicity Michelle Vicary spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about Hallmark’s early holiday programming strategy, as well as the overall appeal of its family-friendly content.

MCN:Hallmark Channel starts its “Countdown to Christmas” event programming on Halloween. Why that early?

Michelle Vicary: If our audience didn’t like it, they would tell us by not tuning in, but that hasn’t been the case. We said, “Go out and trick or treat, then come home and sit down and the season begins.” There’s been real viewer enthusiasm, and we’ve seen it on both networks by starting that early and going all the way to Jan. 1. There’s a substantial appetite for holiday movies and being of the season and of that celebratory mode.

MCN:What’s in the secret sauce of Hallmark’s holidaythemed programming that seems to whet viewers’ appetites for such specialty programming?

MV: It all starts with the brand. It is one that is so strong and beloved, and people are incredibly passionate about it. Our strategy for both networks starts with the brand and delivering on that brand to our loyal Hallmark enthusiasts.

Not only do we have Christmas and that holiday season, but we are also doing other Hallmark-oriented franchises as well that we found are resonating with our audiences. Whether it’s weddings; fall-themed events like back-to-school, harvest and Halloween; or Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, we’ve found that those have been as successful for us as Christmas.

MCN:Are audiences in general gravitating to feel-good, family-friendly content that Hallmark Channel offers as part of its “Countdown to Christmas” event, as well as through its other original series and movies?

MV: Yes. Under our family-friendly moniker I think we do offer something different for our viewers. I think like everything else, having variety and different options are important, whether you’re talking about television content or dinner each night. So I think having other options for content is what’s working for us.

MCN:Given the success of grittier, mainstream programming, how does Hallmark stay competitive without pushing the envelope on content?

MV: We know that there’s so much content out there that’s darker and edgier and that there are huge audiences for that. We still have to be entertaining — we can’t just rest on that one descriptor. We have to be entertaining and we have to offer content that audiences want to see, and we work very hard to make sure that we are as mainstream as all of our competitors but also delivering something different.

Hallmark Channel will bring back its popular original series Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove for a third season, the network said Wednesday.

The series, based on The New York Times bestselling author’s beloved book series and starring internationally renowned actress Andie MacDowell,finished its second season. The series is produced by Ron French and Stephen Harmaty in association with Dan Wigutow. During its second season, the series avereaged 2.4 million viewers (Live +3) according to Nielsen, making it cable's most watched program on Saturdays this past summer during the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. period.

 “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove has captivated millions of viewers week after week with emotional, riveting and poignant stories of romance, family and friendships in an idyllic seaside town,” said Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming & network publicity for Crown Media Family Networks said in a statement. “It is not surprising that Cedar Cove is touching so many viewers, and we owe that success to our star Andie MacDowell and this phenomenal cast.”

New York — From lighthearted praise by Univision’s Jennifer Ball for a role model, “the wicked witch of the West,” to a warm closing toast to “great women” by NBCUniversal’s Dana Zimmer, the 10th annual “Wonder Women” luncheon last week treated 875 attendees to a generous serving of good advice — and one notable confession.

Sherry Brennan, senior vice president of distribution strategy and development at Fox Networks, said she was on the board of Women in Cable Telecommunications’ New York chapter when the idea was first raised to single out Wonder Women in the cable industry.

“I was against the idea,” she said, to much laughter. “I said something like, ‘We have enough awards in this industry.’” (WICT New York cohosts the event, with Multichannel News, which selects the honorees.)

Brennan said she was outvoted. “And I just want to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge that I was wrong. We need this award.”

Lessons learned: Two heads are better than one, and it’s important to lose gracefully.

Ball invoked the wicked witch because she played that part in a fourth-grade production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

But a teacher first cast her as a munchkin, because she was a small kid. Her mother complained and got young Jennifer the dual role of munchkin and witch. Ball said she’s also learned in her career that “you don’t have to play that role to be here.”

Suddenlink chief financial officer Mary Meduski originally wanted to be a doctor before becoming a banker and then a cable executive. That taught her “you have to love what you do and make a change if you don’t, even if that makes you the oldest Wonder Woman on the stage — just sayin’.”

Marissa Freeman, senior vice president of brand strategy and marketing communications at Time Warner Cable, observed: “There is a Wonder Woman inside all of you, even the men.”

Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming at Crown Media Family Networks, enthused: “I’m so lucky to be in an industry where women have some of the best jobs in the world.”

And Zimmer — who went last, alphabetically — acknowledged a shouted- out happy birthday and then ended her remarks with a toast: “Great women: may we know them, may we be them, may we hire them and may we raise them.”

Videos of all 12 Wonder Women speeches will be available on multichannel. com on Thursday (March 23).

Comcast EVP Cohen Ranks Among Top Obama ‘Bundlers’

There are some familiar media industry names in the latest list of “bundlers” for President Obama’s 2012 campaign.

Bundlers are contributors who go that extra mile, or in this case dollar, to, as OpenSecrets.org puts it, “turn to friends, associates, and, well, anyone who’s willing to give, and deliver the checks to the candidate in one big “bundle.” Though not required to report bundling by anyone but a registered lobbyist, President Obama agreed to report all bundlers who raised more than $50,000.

According to OpenSecrets, no Republican challengers have agreed to provide that data beyond the lobbyist reporting required by the Federal Elections Commission.

As of March 5, Comcast executive vice president David Cohen is high on the leader board, having bundled at least $500,000 in checks. Because of the way the bundled donations are reported, it is not clear how much above that level he went, other than it is north of a half million.

The Comcast exec — called out as a “wonder man” by Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe at last week’s Wonder Women luncheon — ranked third on the OpenSecrets list of top Obama bundlers, behind DreamWorks SKG’s Jeffrey Katzenberg and Chicagoan Fred Eychaner, on the basis of having given more than $1 million (individually and through family members) to federal candidates, parties and PACs in all election cycles since 1990.

A former chief of staff to Democratic Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, Cohen hosted a fall fund-raiser for the president and the DNC at his home, and also hosted a fundraiser for Obama the first time around in 2008.

Also in the $500,000 club is Tom Wheeler, the former National Cable Television Association president and managing director of Core Capital Partners. He advised the Obama transition team and later was instrumental in advising the president to move back the DTV transition date.

Tennis Channel chief Ken Solomon also has served up the green at $500,000-plus. In 2008, he bundled in the $100,000-$200,000 range for Obama.

In the $200,000- $500,000 category you fi nd former Democratic FCC commissioner (a Clinton appointee) Susan Ness. She left the agency in 2001 and is currently a consultant. All in, folks from the TV/movie/ music spheres bundled at least $4.75 million, in fi fth place as a category behind lawyers, bankers, business services and real estate.

‘Lost Girl’ Chatter

Anna Silk: “That sex scene that Kris is talking about was almost like doing a stunt. I mean it was exhausting and I remember it was my birthday that day, do you remember that, Kris?

Kris Holden-Ried: “That’s right.”

Anna Silk: “I spent it nude covered in blood on top of you. It was a great way to spend my birthday.”

 — Overheard during a call with bloggers last week were Lost Girl’s Anna Silk and Kris Holden- Ried. The Canadian supernatural drama stars Silk as Bo, a succubus who feeds off sexual energy, and Holden-Ried as her love interest. Season 1 on Syfy ends tonight (March 19) at 10 p.m.

Multichannel News has named the 2012 "Wonder Women" class of cable-TV executives, who'll be celebrated at a luncheon on March 13.

The 12 dynamic, decision-making executives, chosen by the magazine's editors on the basis of nominations, are:

Karen Dougherty Buchholz, vice president of administration at Comcast

Marissa Freeman, senior vice president of brand strategy and marketing communications at Time Warner Cable

Gemma Toner, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Cablevision Systems

Mary Meduski, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Suddenlink Communications

Dana Zimmer, executive vice president of TV networks distribution at NBCUniversal

Lori LeBas, senior vice president of strategy and business operations at ESPN

Jennifer Ball, senior vice president of affiliate marketing and distribution at Univision Communications

Rhonda Holt, senior vice president of media platform technologies and operations at Turner Broadcasting System

Sherry Brennan, senior vice president of distribution strategy and development at Fox Networks

Rebecca Glashow, senior vice president of digital media distribution at Discovery Communications

Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming at Crown Media Family Networks

Kellie Grutko, vice president of marketing, at Comcast Spotlight

In January, Multichannel News will profile these accomplished female executives, along with the magazine's choice of "Women To Watch."

This is the 14th annual class of "Wonder Women." For videos from this past March's luncheon, honoring the 2011 class (pictured above), please click this link.

For more information about the March 13, 2012, luncheon at the Hilton New York, contact Sandy Friedman at sfriedman@nbmedia.com.