Lionsgate Co-Chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer and TV Guide Network Board Chairman Allen Shapiro announced that Ryan O’Hara has resigned as President of TV Guide Network to take another position in New York. Just what that is will reportedly be announce in the coming week.
Don’t look for any immediate announcement of a successor. The company’s owners said the current leadership team will remain in place to continue the networ’s growth momentum.
“Ryan and his management team have led TV Guide Network to a strong year of growth in both programming and distribution. He has been a key architect of the channel’s continued evolution into a fully distributed, full screen general entertainment network that will play an important role in the cable landscape of the future,” said Feltheimer.
“Ryan will be missed, but Jon Feltheimer and I have tremendous confidence in the team of talented and entrepreneurial executives who will continue to build on TVGN and TVGuide.com’s momentum,” said Shapiro.
During the nine months since TV Guide Network was acquired by Lionsgate and One Equity Partners was brought in as a partner, the partners note that the network has acquired new programming such as ABC’s long-running series “Ugly Betty” and HBO’s acclaimed hit “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” achieved back-to-back record ratings weeks with the December airings of the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights” from Lionsgate’s library and the Susan Boyle story, and forged new long-term distribution agreements with Comcast and Charter. TVGuide.com has also achieved explosive growth, they say, increasing from five to 21 million unique monthly users in the past three years.
TV Guide Network recently strengthened its management team with the announcement that respected industry veteran Diane Robina has been named Executive Vice President of Development, Acquisition and Programming Strategy. Robina also continues as President of Lionsgate’s branded multiplatform horror/thriller network FEARnet with partners Sony and Comcast. TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com will continue under the leadership of their current management teams under the overall direction of Feltheimer and Shapiro.
“We have a strong leadership team and a focused strategy to build TV Guide Network into a branded celebration of entertainment and fandom, so this is the right time for me to move on to another new entrepreneurial opportunity that has arisen. I enjoyed my eight years at TV Guide tremendously, and I believe the trajectory of the business has never been better. It is in perfect hands with Lionsgate and One Equity Partners,” said O’Hara.
