Spike TV has hired Tom Zappala for the new position of
executive VP of programming, the network said Thursday. He will report to Spike
President Kevin Kay.
Zappala was previously executive VP of acquisitions and
scheduling at Disney–ABC Cable Networks Group. At Spike, he will oversee all of
the network's scheduling, media planning and acquisitions.
He replaces John Griffin, senior VP of programming, who left
the network in July.
"We are thrilled to have one of the top programmers in the
industry join our team," Kay said in a statement. "Tom has a proven track
record of success and we look forward to utilizing his wealth of programming
experience as Spike continues to grow and expand its audience."
At Disney, Zappala was responsible for all off-network,
first-run and feature acquisitions and international and domestic
co-productions. He joined ABC Family in 2003 as senior VP, overseeing
acquisitions for the network as well as SOAPnet.
Prior to ABC Family, he was senior VP of programming at
Viacom.
