OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network has hired former A&E and MTV programming executive Drew Tappon as its head of unscripted development, program & specials, the network said Wednesday.

Tappon will be responsible for leading the Black female targeted network’s efforts in developing and producing a variety of unscripted programming, according to OWN. Tappon replaces Robyn Lattaker-Johnson, who left the company in April. 

Previously Tappon served as chief creative officer for 495 Productions, overseeing such diverse reality programming as Peace of Mind with Taraji P. Henson, Jersey Shore, Floribama Shore, and A Double Shot at Love. Prior to that, he held various senior programming positions at A&E, Warner Horizon Television and MTV.

“Drew is one of the most talented creatives in the industry having developed and produced some of the biggest unscripted hits on television,” said OWN president Tina Perry in a statement. “I am beyond excited to have him join OWN to bring his expertise to our growing lineup of dynamic series.”

Added Tappon: “I can’t wait to join the team at OWN and help continue its growth. Working with the unscripted community to forge new programming for the network is the chance of a lifetime.”

Multichannel News is pleased to announce 15 Wonder Women of Los Angeles, who will be celebrated at a virtual event on Monday, June 7.

A diverse group of successful executives in a range of fields at companies involved with programming, streaming technology, advertising and consulting. This is MCN’s third L.A.-based extension of its Wonder Women program. Look for announcements (on mcnwonderwomen.com) coming soon about the 2021 New York Wonder Women, to be celebrated in September, and for a new Wonder Women program centered around San Francisco.

Wonder Women of Los Angeles on June 7 will kick off a packed month of Future events, continuing with the Summer TV Events slate of the TV Data+Measurement Summit on Wednesday, June 9, and TV+Sports Summit on Thursday, June 10, and closing with the Pride TV Summit on Wednesday, June 23.

“These 15 leaders in both traditional and emerging categories of the TV industry are true Wonder Women, whose stories we’re proud to share with our readers and guests at the event on June 7,” Bill Gannon, VP and global editor-in-chief of Multichannel News, Broadcasting+Cable and Next TV, said. “Their wit and wisdom will be a great beginning to our Summer TV Events season.”

Also read: Celebrating Women on Video's Cutting Edge 

In alphabetical order, with links to their bios, these are the 2021 Wonder Women of Los Angeles.

Lauren Anderson, Co-Head of Content and Programming, IMDb TV.

Andrea Clarke-Hall, Head of Global Business Development, Head of Global Business Development, Tubi.

Angela Courtin, Vice President of Brand Marketing, YouTube.

Jackie Donaldson, Vice President of Global Product Strategy, Disney Streaming.

Dee Harris-Lawrence, Showrunner, Executive Producer, David Makes Man, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Jaya Kolhatkar, Executive Vice President, Data, Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.

Amy Kuessner, Senior Vice President of Content Strategy and Global Partnership, Pluto TV.

Audrey Lee, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Starz.

Alison Levin, Vice President of Global Ad Revenue and Marketing Solutions, Roku.

Susan Levison, Senior Vice President and Head of WWE Studios, WWE.

Pooja Midha, Chief Growth Officer, Comcast Advertising.

Cathy Oh, Vice President and Global Head of Marketing and Analytics, Samsung Ads.

Duan Peng, Senior Vice President of Data & Artificial Intelligence, WarnerMedia.

Romina Rosado, Executive Vice President, Entertainment and Content Strategy, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.

Michelle Wroan, Managing Partner, Los Angeles, KPMG LLP.

Several cable networks have put their ratings faith into scripted dramas and comedies that have church- and religion-based themes as a backdrop.

Shows ranging from dramas like OWN’s upcoming Greenleaf, starring Oprah Winfrey; Bounce TV’s first original series, Saints & Sinners; and AMC’s DC Comics-driven Preacher to comedies like TV Land’s The Soul Man and Impastor feature religious overtones that networks say help bless the show’s main storyline and characters — who often than come across more as sinners than saints.

“The shows provide a fresh perspective of the world that we know,” Ri-Karlo Handy, senior vice president of original programming for multicast network Bounce TV, said about the new church-themed drama series Saints & Sinners. “We’re not being overly religious, but instead are showing real, flawed characters that often make mistakes even in the midst of the church.”

TRACK RECORD OF RATINGS WINS

Church- and religious-themed original movies and limited series have generated strong numbers in recent years. History’s five-episode series The Bible averaged more than 13 million viewers in 2013, while National Geographic Channel’s original movie Killing Jesus set a ratings record last March with 3.7 million viewers. (Nat Geo will target the faith-based audience in a different way on April 3 with the new docuseries The Story of God With Morgan Freeman.)

Until recently, though, there have been very few scripted drama or comedy series on television that have featured the church or religion as a main component of a show’s storyline. Unlike reality or Bible-based documentary shows, which tend to have a more preachy focus, scripted dramas and comedies focus less on theology and more on the human and often-flawed characters within the church, executives said.

For African-American targeted network Bounce TV, Saints & Sinners, which stars Vanessa Bell Calloway (Coming to America) and Gloria Ruben (ER) and follows the conflicts among members of a small-town Georgia Baptist church, drew a network-record 1.5 million cumulative viewers for the episode that bowed March 13.

“Our audience is one that really likes the drama and the characters, and this is a great new backdrop that they haven’t seen,” Handy said.

“Not every character in our show is a devout Christian, but they have some sort of connection to the church, whether good, bad or indifferent.”

OWN also hopes to draw religious and non-religious viewers to Greenleaf, which debuts in June. The show, the first scripted series in which network CEO Oprah Winfrey will have a recurring acting role, follows a powerful and influential family and their Memphis, Tenn., megachurch.

Greenleaf gives the network a way to reach its core viewers with drama, as it did with the Tyler Perry-created series The Haves and the Have Nots, but this time with a show that probes religious themes, OWN president Erik Logan said.

“We find this arena to be compelling and interesting … there hasn’t been a lot of exploration to date in it, and I think it’s an area where we see opportunity to put real characters and real situations on screen for storytelling purposes,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s about all the challenges that a large family has, but the background that the church provides is a very interesting and compelling stage for us to have this story and have these very rich and diverse characters talk from.”

‘SOMETHING LARGER AT PLAY’

TV Land has approached religion afrom a comedy standpoint with freshman series Impastor, about a gambling addict who ends up stealing the identity of a gay pastor, and The Soul Man, which stars Cedric the Entertainer as a superstar singer who returns to lead his father’s church.

The Soul Man, which launches its fifth and final season March 30, is TV Land’s most watched show among African-Americans.

The religious themes add a new wrinkle to the show’s overall characters and storylines, TV Land executive vice president of development and original programming Keith Cox said.

“While the church is a background element in every episode, it’s really just a touchstone for the idea that there’s always something larger at play,” Cox said.