Warner Bros. Discovery cuts OWN execs, with head of programming among those departing

Oprah Winfrey

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has cut four key positions at Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in the US, including head of programming Mary Beth Cunin.

She departs alongside general counsel Karen Grant-Selma, chief marketing officer Jennifer Giddens and comms chief Nicole Nichols, as WBD’s ongoing cuts continue to be felt across its operations.

Nichols will remain head of comms for Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, following her exit from the WBD-owned network.

The departures involve some of the longest serving execs at OWN, which was set up as a joint venture between Discovery and Harpo in 2008, before the factual giant upped its stake to more than 90%.

Nichols had been with OWN since launch, while Cunin has been working on programming for almost a decade. Giddens and Grant-Selma joined in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

Just last week, WBD revealed HBO Max is to remove 36 more titles from its service, including both original and acquired content, as parent company WBD continues to cut costs.