Discovery Communications named Allison Page as president of HGTV and Food Network and assigned the Travel Channel to the constellation of channels headed run by group president Henry Schleiff.
Page, who had been general manager of U.S. programming development at Discovery, will report to Kathleen Finch, chief lifestyle brands officer at the company.
Finch was head of programming for Scripps Networks Interactive when it was acquired by Discovery.
Courtney White was named executive VP for HGTV and Food Network, reporting to Page. White had been senior VP of programming for Travel, Food Network and Cooking Network.
Schlieff, who also reports to Finch, now has Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Destination America and American Heroes Channel in his portfolio.
“I’ve long admired Henry’s ability to build incredible brands and the success he’s achieved with Investigation Discovery is nothing short of remarkable,” said Finch. “Bringing together the best-in-class teams at ID and Travel under one umbrella provides a unique opportunity to leverage the strengths of both groups under the leadership of an industry legend.”
“Henry is a programming genius as evidenced by his making ID the biggest success story of the last 10 years,” said Discovery CEO David Zaslav. “He brings his passion to succeed, showmanship and, of course, his sense of humor to all and we are lucky to have him take on this new opportunity.”
Page joined Food Network at 2001. White joined Scripps Networks in 2005.
“I couldn’t be prouder to lead this fantastic team of innovative storytellers as we start this new chapter as a combined company with the most beloved real-life entertainment brands in the world,” said Finch. “Allison and Courtney have been instrumental to the growth of these trusted Discovery lifestyle networks. They are amazing creative managers who, time and time again, imagine compelling content for our loyal fans who are passionate about home and food.”
