More cuts at Warner Bros. Discovery, this time at the Oprah Winfrey Network. Deadline has confirmed that Karen Grant-Selma, Jennifer Giddens, Mary Beth Cunin and Nicole Nichols are leaving the network.
Cunin was the head of programming and scheduling at OWN while Grant-Selma was general counsel and Giddens, the chief marketing officer. Nichols, who was exec VP of communications, is leaving the net but will retain her responsibilities with Winfrey’s businesses and Harpo Prods., Winfrey’s production company.
Nichols was at OWN from the start. Cunin came aboard in 2013, while Grant-Selma joined in 2019, followed by Giddens a year later.
Staff cuts are part of an overall plan to streamline the merged company by eliminating redundancies and hitting a promised 3 billion or more in cost synergies from the deal.
Winfrey launched OWN in 2008 with Discovery in a 50-50 deal, with the latter increasing its stake in the company in subsequent years.
Cunin was the head of programming and scheduling at OWN while Grant-Selma was general counsel and Giddens, the chief marketing officer. Nichols, who was exec VP of communications, is leaving the net but will retain her responsibilities with Winfrey’s businesses and Harpo Prods., Winfrey’s production company.
Nichols was at OWN from the start. Cunin came aboard in 2013, while Grant-Selma joined in 2019, followed by Giddens a year later.
Staff cuts are part of an overall plan to streamline the merged company by eliminating redundancies and hitting a promised 3 billion or more in cost synergies from the deal.
Winfrey launched OWN in 2008 with Discovery in a 50-50 deal, with the latter increasing its stake in the company in subsequent years.
- 8/19/2022
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
The Warner Bros. Discovery layoffs have hit OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network).
Several executives, including Jennifer Giddens, the head of marketing; Karen Grant-Selma, the senior vice president of business and legal affairs; and MaryBeth Cunin, head of programming, are exiting. Nicole Nichols has been released from her executive vice president of communications and strategies duties at Warner Bros Discovery, but continues on with Harpo and Oprah Winfrey, The Wrap has learned.
Prior to working at OWN, Grant-Selma worked in business and legal affairs at DreamWorks Animation, helping lead a new focus in development and production of scripted and non-scripted live action series. She previously worked at ITV Studios America, Live Nation Productions, Universal Pictures Kids & Family Productions, Maker Studios, AMC Networks, NBCUniversal and Miracle Entertainment.
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Netflix Cuts 300 Jobs in New Round of Layoffs
Before she came to OWN, Giddens led marketing teams for Netflix, where she was head of creative marketing,...
Several executives, including Jennifer Giddens, the head of marketing; Karen Grant-Selma, the senior vice president of business and legal affairs; and MaryBeth Cunin, head of programming, are exiting. Nicole Nichols has been released from her executive vice president of communications and strategies duties at Warner Bros Discovery, but continues on with Harpo and Oprah Winfrey, The Wrap has learned.
Prior to working at OWN, Grant-Selma worked in business and legal affairs at DreamWorks Animation, helping lead a new focus in development and production of scripted and non-scripted live action series. She previously worked at ITV Studios America, Live Nation Productions, Universal Pictures Kids & Family Productions, Maker Studios, AMC Networks, NBCUniversal and Miracle Entertainment.
Also Read:
Netflix Cuts 300 Jobs in New Round of Layoffs
Before she came to OWN, Giddens led marketing teams for Netflix, where she was head of creative marketing,...
- 8/19/2022
- by Jolie Lash
- The Wrap
Warner Bros. Discovery has let go of four top executives, including Karen Grant-Selma and Jennifer Giddens, at the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Variety has learned exclusively.
Grant-Selma serves as general counsel for the network, while Giddens is chief marketing officer.
Additionally, Nicole Nichols, OWN’s executive vice president of communications, is exiting her role at the network. She also heads communication for Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s production company, and serves as Winfrey’s personal representative. She will now transition into focusing on these roles full-time.
MaryBeth Cunin, head of programming and scheduling for OWN, is also on her way out.
The news adds to a long string of high-profile exits since David Zaslav took over as the CEO of a post-merger Wbd. However, most major departures before this have come from the Warner Bros. side of the equation — WarnerMedia CEO and chairman Ann Sarnoff and global communications head Johanna Fuentes,...
Grant-Selma serves as general counsel for the network, while Giddens is chief marketing officer.
Additionally, Nicole Nichols, OWN’s executive vice president of communications, is exiting her role at the network. She also heads communication for Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s production company, and serves as Winfrey’s personal representative. She will now transition into focusing on these roles full-time.
MaryBeth Cunin, head of programming and scheduling for OWN, is also on her way out.
The news adds to a long string of high-profile exits since David Zaslav took over as the CEO of a post-merger Wbd. However, most major departures before this have come from the Warner Bros. side of the equation — WarnerMedia CEO and chairman Ann Sarnoff and global communications head Johanna Fuentes,...
- 8/19/2022
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Mary Beth Cunin, Cmt‘s Svp of Programming Strategy, is leaving the network at the end of the year. Originally based in Cmt’s Nashville headquarters and reporting directly to Brian Philips, President, Cmt, Cunin oversees program scheduling, promotion scheduling, acquisitions and digital content strategy for the network. Cunin relocated to Los Angeles in August. Cmt is expected to name a replacement, to be based in Nashville, in the new year. During her nine-year tenure at Cmt, Cunin acquired off-network shows Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Trading Spouses and negotiated a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to bring original episodes of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? to the channel simultaneously with broadcast syndication. On the original programming front, Cunin’s highest-profile initiative was the 2011 launch of a Cmt original movie division to produce TV movies for the network. It has since been shelved.
- 12/6/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Actor-comedian Pauly Shore, who had a reality show, Paid Vacation With Pauly Show, on Cmt, is back on the cable channel with a telefilm. The latest entry in Cmt’s original movie franchise established a year ago, is Whiskey Business, starring the 1990s comedy star, which will premiere on March 25. The film, produced by Entertainment One, centers on self-proclaimed “Guido,” Nicky Ferelli, (Shore) who runs away from his mob-tied family when he is wrongly accused of murder, and ends up hiding out in a small southern town making a new and unusual variety of moonshine, while discovering that a country way of life could be the best thing that ever happened to him. “It’s heartfelt, and playing a likeable ‘Guido’ is a throwback to the old Pauly fans know from my earlier movies,” Shore said. Whiskey Business co-stars John Schneider and Tanya Tucker and also features Cynthia Preston,...
- 2/14/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: After entering the scripted series arena last year with its first crop of comedy pilots, which yielded its first scripted series, Working Class, Cmt is expanding into another area of original programming. The country music-themed cable network has established Cmt Original Movies, a new division that will produce TV movies for the network with a focus on romantic comedies and music-based films. The first two movies in the franchise, which will be released in late summer, are To the Mat (working title), starring Ricky Schroder and actress-singer Laura Bell Bundy; and Reel Love, starring actress-country star LeAnn Rimes. Both films will be produced by Entertainment One Television under head of MOWs Ira Pincus. "We’ve had great ratings success programming with acquired theatrical romantic comedies, so it is only natural for us to create original stories that are tailor-made for the Cmt audience," said Cmt's Svp programming Mary Beth Cunin.
- 3/15/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
CMT has snapped up off-net rights to two unscripted series -- Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy and Nanny 911 -- as part of a multiyear licensing agreement with Twentieth Television.
Spouses and Nanny, both Fox series, are set to debut next week, with Spouses airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon and 1 p.m. and with repeats at 6 and 7 p.m. It will alternate days with Nanny, which will air in the same time periods Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"We believe that the addition of these family-based reality shows to our schedule will not only engage our core fans but attract new viewers as well," CMT vp programming strategy Mary Beth Cunin said.
Twentieth president and COO Bob Cook called the shows "two of television's most memorable family-centered reality series."...
Spouses and Nanny, both Fox series, are set to debut next week, with Spouses airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon and 1 p.m. and with repeats at 6 and 7 p.m. It will alternate days with Nanny, which will air in the same time periods Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"We believe that the addition of these family-based reality shows to our schedule will not only engage our core fans but attract new viewers as well," CMT vp programming strategy Mary Beth Cunin said.
Twentieth president and COO Bob Cook called the shows "two of television's most memorable family-centered reality series."...
- 2/28/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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