(Bloomberg) -- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. said its TV studio chief Channing Dungey will also lead its troubled US cable networks including TNT and HGTV, replacing longtime head Kathleen Finch, who will retire at the end of the year.
Dungey, who currently runs the Warner Bros. Television Group, a major production arm of the company, has had a series of high-profile jobs in the industry, including vice president for original series at Netflix Inc. She was also the first Black person to lead a major TV network when she served as president of entertainment at Walt Disney Co.’s ABC division. Dungey has a long history of working with producer Shonda Rhimes on hit shows like Scandal and Bridgerton.
Warner Bros. announced the moves in a statement Friday.
Dungey takes over at a challenging time for cable networks like Warner Bros.’ TBS and TLC, which have suffered steep viewer losses and a drop in advertising sales. Last week, Warner Bros. wrote down the value of its channels by $9.1 billion, leading to a quarterly loss. Rival Paramount Global, owner of MTV, cut the value of its cable assets by almost $6 billion last week as well.
On Friday, Standard & Poors changed its outlook on Warner Bros.’ long-term debt to negative from stable, reflecting continued weakness at the TV networks and studio.
Finch has a long history in unscripted programming. She joined Scripps Networks in 1999 as a programmer with the Food Network. After Discovery acquired Scripps, she served as chief lifestyle brands officer there and took on oversight of all US TV networks when Discovery merged with WarnerMedia in 2022.
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