Former Animal Planet and TLC head Marjorie Kaplan is leaving Discovery Communications as part of a reorganization of the company’s international creative group.
Kaplan moved to London a year ago as president of international content to work on a strategy for international content investment. Discovery says she determined the content group should work directly with Discovery’s U.K. business and will leave the company.
The international content group will become part of the U.K. business under Susanna Dinnage, who has been promoted to president and managing director of Discovery Networks U.K./Ireland. Dinnage, who has been with Discovery for seven years, will now be responsible for content creation for the international businesses. Kaplan will stay till the end of the year, working with Dinnage on the transition.
“Susanna is a great creative and commercial leader. She has successfully grown the UK business over the last seven years and has been instrumental in building our brands and channels in our biggest market outside the U.S.," said JB Perrette, president of Discovery Networks International. “Redeploying resources to the UK team, as well as bolstering the innovative work done by Discovery’s local creative teams worldwide, will ensure a healthy pipeline of content for the company’s loved brands around the world.”
Before joining Discovery, Dinnage began her career at MTV and then helped launch Channel 5 in the U.K.
Speaking about Kaplan, Perrette said: “Marjorie is an incredible business leader, widely admired both internally and externally, having transformed multiple businesses at the company and with long-running hit series on virtually all our channels, to her credit. I know she is excited to seek out an entirely new challenge, but her legacy will remain and she will be missed.”
Kaplan said: “I believe strongly in the power of global content and universal human stories. Discovery’s international business must prioritize local relevance to best serve international audiences and drive growth, and further leverage its incredibly creative talent around the world. As a result, the current central structure doesn't make sense for the company or for me. Although this is a bittersweet decision for me, I expect it to also be the start of new adventures as exciting as those I have undertaken while at Discovery.”
