About two years after joining Z Living, CEO and general manager Rafe Oller is leaving the lifestyle network, the company said Tuesday. Rajeev Kheror, a senior executive at the network’s parent Zee Entertainment Enterprises, was named president of the network. Kheror, who previously served as Zee Entertainment's president of strategy and planning of international business, will operate out of the network's Los Angeles headquarters.

According to the company, Oller is leaving the network to pursue a new venture. He could not be reached for comment. Z Living said a search is currently underway for a new CEO and general manager.

Oller joined Z Living in 2015 and under his watch the network launched several original series like Finding Fido (produced by 3 Ball Entertainment); Altar’d (produced by Bodega Pictures); The Big Fat Truth (produced by 3 Ball Entertainment); Yoga Girls (produced by Charlie Ebersol’s The Company) and Popsugar Presents Conquered (produced by Popsugar Studios). He also helped grow distribution, forging deals with AT&T U-verse, Dish and Verizon FiOS and secured strategic partnerships with Popsugar and SheKnows.

The channel has struggled in the past, rocked by a series of personnel issues prior to Oller's tenure, including a discrimination lawsuit filed against the network, executive departures and layoffs in its New York offices.

Z Living began carrying Sony-distributed syndicated series The Dr. Oz Show in September, and based on its success said it will increase its focus on programming reflecting healthy lifestyles. EVP and head of programming Tim Krubsack will continue to lead the network’s programming strategy.

“Z Living made great strides in the last several years, and we thank Rafe Oller for his leadership in elevating the network’s original programming and marketing strategies,” Zee Entertainment Enterprises broadcast business CEO Amit Goenka said in a statement. “Now, as Z Living enters its next chapter, we have great faith in the vision of Rajeev Kheror to further the network’s commitment to programming dedicated to healthy living, and to broadening its reach in the US and globally.”

According to the company, Z Living has significantly boosted its ratings -- total day audience increased by about 82% in January through November – and its prime audience increased by more than 144%. October was its highest rated month ever, both in Total and Prime, and the network predicts Q4 trending to be the highest rated quarter in network history.

“Across the world, we see significant and growing interest in healthy lifestyle content, something that is culturally transcendent, which is especially relevant in this complex and ever-evolving marketplace,” Kheror said in a statement. “I look forward to helping bring a global perspective to Z Living as we refine our content strategy, and build our distribution in 2018 and beyond.”    

About 10 months into his tenure as general manager of lifestyle channel Z Living, Rafe Oller is well on his way to transforming the channel from a health information network to a health entertainment network.

By roughly doubling the number of homes where Z Living is available in less than a year — the programmer says its approaching 40 million homes now, and hopes to be in 50 million by the end of 2016 — Z Living appears to be realizing the potential Oller saw in the channel when he joined last September, after stints at Fox and Warner Bros. Entertainment Group.

“I didn’t sign up for what this network is,” Oller said. “I signed up for what I know it could be.”

SAILING ROUGH SEAS

Oller joined Z Living after an embarrassing series of personnel issues rocked the company: a discrimination lawsuit filed against the network and parent Asia TV by former head of marketing Michael Snyder in 2014; the earlier departure of its CEO; and layoffs in its New York offices.

Oller, who joined the network formerly known as Veria Living after those issues surfaced, said he has had no issues with the parent company, which has given his team freedom to make decisions and run the U.S. business, he said.

“My relationship with the parent company is excellent,” Oller said in an interview. “We all feel very welcome. We’re all rowing in the same direction, which is establishing a really great network.”

Helping move the boat along has been the number of distribution deals Oller and his team have been able to secure in the past few months alone.

In June, Z Living renewed its distribution deal with satellite-TV provider Dish Network, an agreement that puts the channel in 11 million homes and includes carriage on its over-the-top platform Sling TV. This month, it renewed with AT&T’s U-verse TV, adding another 5 million homes in the telco-TV service’s Top 200 programming package, where Z Living is grouped with Scripps Networks Interactive’s lifestyle networks.

Those deals are in addition to Z Living’s current carriage on Altice USA (formerly Cablevision Systems), Verizon Communications’s Fios TV, General Communication Inc., RCN, Buckeye Broadband and Comcast’s Chicago system. Other deals are expected this year.

Oller has tried to broaden the network’s focus, away from just providing information to providing entertainment. In that vein, the network green-lighted four new original series in April that will air in the fourth quarter: Finding Fido, hosted by canine expert Seth Casteel, which matches dog-owners-to-be with the perfect pet; Altar’d, a reality program where couples undergo separate 90-day weight loss and healthy lifestyle programs and don’t see each other until their wedding day; The Big Fat Truth, hosted by Extreme Weight Loss and The Biggest Loser executive producer JD Roth; and Yoga Girls, a docu-soap that follows two groups of Los Angeles yoga instructors as they try to build their client lists and brands.

PROGRAMMING PUSH

Two of those shows (Finding Fido and The Big Fat Truth) are part of a larger development deal with unscripted producer 3 Ball Entertainment. Z Living also has reached deals with producers Ebersol Lanigan Co. and Popsugar. The Popsugar deal will include series for both the linear network and online.

Oller wouldn’t say how much Z Living is spending on original programming, but said the network is doling out about the same per episode as comparable channels from Scripps Networks and A+E Networks.

Networks across the board are investing in original programming to help differentiate themselves, which has helped fragment audiences, according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley media analyst Ben Swinburne.

According to Swinburne, there are 111 new scripted series slated for the 2016-17 TV season from broadcasters alone, an increase of 9% from the prior year. That makes it harder for consumers to navigate through the lineup, but it helps networks to stand out come carriage-renewal time. And though smaller, independent networks are sometimes easier to single out when distributors are looking to pare down their lineups, Oller said distributors are beginning to realize the benefits of tapping into the $1.8 trillion fitness and healthy lifestyle market.

Oller said he understands that fitness equipment sales don’t necessarily translate into fitness viewers, but by providing a mixture of information shows — mainly geared toward morning workout regimens — and entertainment programming later in the day, the network should capture a broader audience.

Health and fitness is attracting a broader scope of people. Oller said that three out of four Americans are either becoming healthier or are working out regularly, weight loss shows like The Biggest Loser are getting big ratings on broadcast TV and even the grocery aisles are reflecting changing attitudes.

Oller pointed to a time not too long ago when Horizon milk was the only organic food product available in most grocery stores. Now, there are entire sections of the supermarket dedicated to organic foods, which, despite their sometimes-higher prices, are gaining popularity. More than half of millennials are buying organic.

“Welcome to the era of the $7 heirloom tomato,” Oller said.

Z Living said it has signed a new multi-year distribution agreement with Dish Network, the nationwide satellite-TV carrier that has moved the "healthy lifestyle" programmer into the America's Top 120 programming package and above from previous placement in America's Top 250.

“We are thrilled to have struck this long-term agreement with Dish, including the addition of Z Living in the America’s Top 120 tier," Rafe Oller, who joined the network as general manager last September, said in a release. "As we continue to offer Z Living’s growing audience original programming focused on health, fitness, food, travel and more, we are well on our way to becoming a leading health entertainment destination.”

Under Oller and programming head Tim Krubsack, the channel, previously called Veria Living and owned by a company affiliated with Zee Entertainment, has been adding shows about weight loss, pets and travel in addition to the prior focus on yoga and wellness. In March it announced a development partnership with Popsugar.

Several sources have indicated Z Living, the struggling health and wellness-focused programmer, made significant cutbacks today at its U.S. corporate offices in New York City.

The number of the cutbacks could not be independently determined, but sources familiar with the company said that at one point at least 30 people worked at its New York offices.

An e-mail to Z Living’s vice president of marketing Jennifer Villani was returned stating that Friday was her last day at the company. She referred all inquiries to Z Living CEO Gyaneshwar Tewari. He did not immediately return a request for comment.

Z Living has been under fire lately, especially after former marketing chief Michael Snyder filed a discrimination suit against the company in December, claiming management regularly prevented him from performing his duties and fired him because he is a Jewish American. The company also was under investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for discriminatory practices. It could not be determined if that investigation is ongoing.

Z Living, formerly Veria Living, launched in the U.S. in 2007 on EchoStar Communications, now Dish Network. The network, which features programming promoting holistic medicine, yoga and a healthy lifestyle, has found it difficult to gain additional carriage. According to its website, the network is currently available on Cablevision Systems, RCN, FiOS TV, Dish Network, GCI in Alaska and Comcast’s Chicago system. Programming also is available to stream over the Internet via Z Living GO, and free-to-air on digital broadcast stations WSKC-CD in Atlanta, WOCK-CD in Chicago and KSDY-LD in San Diego.

Kent Gibbons contributed reporting to this story.