Discovery said it has promoted former EVP and general manager of Digital Media Karen Leever to president, U.S. Digital Products and marketing, where she will oversee the programmer’s existing digital products as well as its U.S. direct-to-consumer efforts.
According to Discovery, Leever will continue to oversee its suite of 18 TV Everywhere GO apps and manage the design, development, engineering, analytics, operations and monetization of the company’s U.S digital businesses. Additionally, she will spearhead Discovery’s domestic direct-to-consumer endeavors. She will report to Discovery Global direct to consumer CEO Peter Faricy.
“Over the past three years, Karen has brought us where we are today with GO, building an incredibly successful, mobile-first TV everywhere business that our superfans love and helping to attract new, younger audiences to our brands and programs,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.
As EVP and GM of Digital Media at Discovery, Leever was responsible for extending the reach of Discovery’s digital brands and businesses in the U.S. She launched the company’s mobile-first suite of TV Everywhere GO apps, which now generate more than 40 million streams per month and include 40,000 titles of live and on-demand content. Leever also led strategy, design and development for the GO apps and was responsible for driving design and development of Discovery’s network websites. She implemented the company’s first full-service digital agency, focusing on acquisition and content strategy, product ideation and development, analytics and tech.
“It is terrific to join a company with such a great digital team already in place,” Faricy said in a statement. “A strong, experienced executive, Karen has been an integral part of Discovery’s pivot to a digitally focused company and is the perfect person to lead the charge as we move forward. I am excited to collaborate with her.”
Prior to Discovery, Leever spent 10 years at DirecTV, most recently as SVP Digital and Direct Sales, driving the satellite television company’s business. While at DirecTV, she also drove new subscription acquisition growth, digital product strategy and all cross-platform digital efforts.
Before DirecTV, Leever led the planning, launch and operations for a revamped kmart.com as vice president of E-commerce and Marketing. Earlier, she spent more than a decade in electronic TV retailing both at HSN and QVC, overseeing website design, messaging, pricing and programing strategies.
“It has been wonderful to collaborate with Discovery’s iconic portfolio of networks to expand their reach and bring their world-class content to superfans on new platforms and devices anytime, anywhere,” Leever said in a statement. “I am honored to work with such an amazing team who has reimagined the way our viewers watch television and so look forward to being a part of the next chapter in Discovery’s story.”
