In a big change to Discovery of Warner Bros.Channing Dungey, the company's chief executive, will take over leadership of the company's U.S. TV networks later this year as current U.S. Networks Chairman and CEO Kathleen Finch retires.
Dungey is currently CEO of the Warner Bros. TV Group and will oversee the networks when Finch retires at the end of this year.
WBD’s U.S. network group includes TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Discovery Channel, TruTV and Investigation Discovery. Finch is a 25-year veteran of the company (including her time at Discovery and Scripps), having joined Food Network as an executive in 1999. She also assumed oversight of the former Turner networks in 2022 when Discovery and WarnerMedia merged to form Warner Bros. Discovery.
Tick spoken with The Hollywood Reporter about her plans for TNT and TBS, including scripted and sports content, in 2022.
“No one is better at developing compelling content, exciting talent and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our core entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “While I understand her long-term decision to retire, I will miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefited from her unparalleled collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave.”
“Channing is an unparalleled creative executive who has overseen numerous award-winning, hit shows. She has the ideal expertise and experience – as a content developer, platform programmer and network executive – to lead US Networks,” he added.
“It has been an honor to serve at Scripps, Discovery and now Warner Bros. Discovery for the past 25 years. I began my journey at the fledgling Food Network and am so proud to have helped transform it into a cable giant, then led the team that developed some of the most addictive unscripted franchises on HGTV and TLC, created household names in chefs and house flippers, and captured the cultural conversation with real-life stories,” Finch added. “The greatest joy, and the part I will miss the most, is the incredible people I get to work with every day. Starting with David and throughout the organization and of course all of the amazing on-air talent, this is one of the smartest and most creative groups imaginable. I am so proud of what the US Networks group has accomplished together, and I know there is much more to come under Channing's leadership.”
There's more to come.