Lifetime Television is losing the programming chief who helped to propel the
network to No. 1 in primetime for cable, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Dawn Tarnofsky-Ostroff, Lifetime's executive vice president of entertainment,
has been named president of United Paramount Network Entertainment.
Tarnofsky-Ostroff, who will be based in Los Angeles, will report to CBS CEO
Leslie Moonves, who started overseeing UPN for Viacom Inc. last month.
Tarnofsky-Ostroff, who joined Lifetime in October 1996, is the architect of
the women's network's blockbuster Sunday-night lineup.
Its roster includes original dramatic series Any Day Now, Strong
Medicine and The Division --shows that helped to drive
Lifetime to the top of cable's ratings last year.
She essentially replaces Tom Nunan, who left UPN last year, and helps to fill
the void left by UPN CEO Dean Valentine's recent exit.
Tarnofsky-Ostroff will take her new post Feb. 11.
She will be responsible for UPN's development, current programming, specials,
movies and miniseries, as well as working closely with scheduling, business
affairs, promotion, research and finance.
Lifetime president Carole Black plans to fill Tarnofsky-Ostroff's post,
according to a Lifetime spokeswoman, who said it's too early to say anything
more.
She added that Tarnofsky-Ostroff has a good programming team in place to
handle things until a replacement is found.
