Frances Berwick


NBCUniversal veteran Adam Stotsky to step down as E! president

Veteran NBCUniversal exec Adam Stotsky is stepping down as president of US network E! after almost 20 years with the company. Stotsky has headed up E! for three years but will step down at the end of the month, with his remit being passed in the interim to Frances Berwick, who oversees NBCU Cable Entertainment’s […]

NBCU takes on ID as Oxygen retools as crime net

NBCUniversal is repositioning female-focused US cable channel Oxygen as a crime-themed network, putting it in direct competition with Investigation Discovery. The new look network will target true crime-hungry female audiences, which are mainly served in the US by Discovery Communications’ thematic ID channel. The reposition comes after Oxygen expanded its ‘Crime Time’ block to four […]

Corus Kids chief to run Sprout in US

Deidre Brennan is leaving Canada’s Corus Entertainment after less than a year to become general manager of NBCUniversal’s children’s channel Sprout. Brennan will oversee all aspects of Sprout’s programming, development, marketing, business strategy and performance at the network, which sits within NBCU Cable Entertainment’s lifestyle networks portfolio. She will report to Frances Berwick, president of […]

Bravo ups development exec Smith

Rachel Smith has been appointed senior vice president of development at US cable net Bravo Media. Her new role, based in New York, will involve overseeing non-scripted development including pilots, original concepts and casting reels. She will report to Frances Berwick, president of lifestyle networks at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. In her previous role as senior […]

Sprout goes Kapow with Zodiak Kids Studios

US kids cable channel Sprout has commissioned Kody Kapow, an animated superhero original from Zodiak Kids Studios. The show is billed to launch on the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment channel in 2017, and will follow an aspiring martials arts superhero who spends the summer with his extended family in a small Chinese village. Zodiak Kids, the […]

McCumber rises as NBCU rejigs entertainment

NBCUniversal is shaking up its entertainment networks division, with USA Networks president Chris McCumber heading up a new-look unit. McCumber will be president of NBCU Entertainment Networks, a group comprising USA, Syfy, Chiller and Cloo. Syfy president Dave Howe is being moved to a new post as president, strategy and commercial growth at NBCU Cable […]

Ex-E! chief emerges at Discovery

Former E! Entertainment Network president Suzanne Kolb has joined cable giant Discovery Communications to oversee its 70-plus web-native brands and series. Kolb has been named executive VP and general manager of Discovery Digital Networks, effective immediately. She will report to the EVP and GM of Discovery’s digital media arm, Karen Leever, who said: “We are […]

Kolb exits E! as Berwick takes on NBCU lifestyle nets

Suzanne Kolb is exiting her post as president of cable channel E! Entertainment, with long-serving NBCUniversal exec Frances Berwick handed control of a new look lifestyle division. NBC Lifestyle Group will comprise Esquire Network, Bravo and Oxygen. Berwick, who already president of Bravo and Oxygen, will oversee the group, and add responsibility for E! and […]

MIPCOM 2013 keynote speakers announced

The keynote speakers in the ‘Media Mastermind’ strand for this year’s MIPCOM have been announced. Event organisers Reed Midem have signed up Frances Berwick, president of US cable net Bravo; Cécile Frot-Coutaz (pictured), CEO, FremantleMedia; Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO, Relativity Media; and Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios for this year’s conference. Reed Midem said the […]