A&E Television Networks, under new CEO Abbe Raven, now has a familiar face in a new role overseeing all distribution and creative efforts.
A&E Network’s David Zagin, formerly senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, has been promoted to executive VP of distribution for AETN, reporting to senior executive VP Whitney Goit.
Zagin continues to oversee all domestic and Canadian distribution, as well as local ad sales, affiliate marketing and video-on-demand for A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, History Channel International, Military History Channel, History Channel en Español and Crime & Investigation Channel.
He adds oversight of AETN’s creative-services group, the programmer’s in-house marketing and advertising design and production team.
Zagin’s top priority is renewing distribution deals for staples A&E and History, set to expire over the next couple of years.
AETN is seeking an unspecified increase in the combined license fee for A&E and History, now approximately 23 cents per customer. And it’s trying to bundle newer services -- particularly Military History and Crime & Investigation -- in with A&E and History in renewal deals, Zagin confirmed.
For more on AETN, please see R. Thomas Umstead’s story on page three of Monday’s issue of Multichannel News.
