Home & Garden Television has hired Mary Ellen Iwata as vice president of
development, a new executive-level position at the network designed to
strengthen its ties to the production community and to facilitate new
programming ideas.
Iwata joins HGTV from The Learning Channel, where she was VP of development
and special projects.
Iwata will start her new position May 31. She will oversee all elements of
programming development. She will work with production companies to solicit and
develop new program proposals and show ideas -- a top priority for HGTV as it
looks to build upon recent ratings successes.
"Being able to bring Mary Ellen to HGTV to lead our program development is
especially meaningful because of her strong track record and the relationships
she has with production companies both here and abroad," HGTV president Burton
Jablin said in a release.
Iwata will report to senior VP of programming Michael Dingley at the
network's headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn.
