Beverly Hills, Calif.—Rick Holzman has been named general manager and executive VP of Animal Planet, the network’s parent company Discovery Communications announced Wednesday at its presentation at the TCA summer press tour. He had previously served as the network’s Executive VP of programming and scheduling for Animal Planet and Science Channel.
Holzman effectively takes over the role from his boss, Marjorie Kaplan, group president of TLC and Animal Planet, who had continue to serve as Animal Planet’s de facto general manager after adding TLC to her portfolio in February. Holzman will continue to report directly to Kaplan.
Holzman joined Animal Planet in 2007, helping to develop series such as River Monsters, Treehouse Masters and Whale Wars. From 2004 to 2007 he served as vice president of programming and scheduling for sister organization Discovery Network. Previous stints include USA Network and MTV Networks.
