After 25 years with Warner Bros, Kathleen Finch (Candy Coated Christmas), the company’s current CEO and chairman of US Networks, plans to retire by the end of this year. According to Deadline, Channing Dungey (Queen of the Damned), the chairman and CEO of the Warner Bros Television Group, will be stepping up to take Finch’s place.
In an interview with David Zaslav (The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum), the current president of Warner Bros. Discovery released a statement to address the decision to have Dungey step up as the company’s chairman of the US Networks.
“There is no one better at developing captivating content, compelling talent, and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our premier entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse. While I understand her long-standing decision to retire, I will certainly miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefitted from her unmatched collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave,” said Zaslav, according to Deadline.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Finch reflected on her career at WBD and shared why Dungey is the best replacement as the CEO of the company’s US Networks.
“It has been an honor to spend the past 25 years at Scripps, Discovery, and now Warner Bros. Discovery. I began my journey at the fledgling Food Network and am so proud to have helped turn it into a cable powerhouse and then to lead the team developing some of the most addictive unscripted franchises across HGTV and TLC, creating household names out of chefs and house flippers, and capturing the cultural conversation with real-life stories. The greatest joy, and the part I will miss the most, is the incredible people with whom I get to work every day. Starting with David and throughout the organization and of course all the amazing on-air talent, this is one of the smartest and most creative groups imaginable. I am so proud of what the US Networks group has accomplished together, and I know under Channing’s leadership there are many successes to come,” Finch said.
WBD’s U.S. networks include TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Discovery Channel, TruTV, Investigation Discovery and many others.