Liguori Exits Discovery, COO Post Left Unfilled

liguoriDiscovery Communications' Peter Liguori, responsible for overseeing the new OWN network, is departing the company by the end of the year.

Liguori, who is COO, was responsible for some recent network launches -- two of which were co-partnership arrangements -- The Hub and OWN. He also helped launch the 3net channel.

OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, is a partnership with Harpo Studios, targeting mostly women viewers as Winfrey's syndication show did in the past. The network has been slow to build viewership, not improving much over its previous incarnation as Discovery Health.

The Hub, a partnership with toymaker Hasbro, is a network looking to grab kids viewers in a category dominated by Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. It has also had a slow start -- mostly expected, say analysts.

David Zaslav, president/CEOof Discovery Communications, stated: "I am particularly grateful to Pete for tackling some pretty challenging special assignments, including the launches of our joint venture networks -- The Hub, OWN and 3net."

Liguori added his good wishes to the senior management team and "in particular, to the employees at all levels of the organization who come in every day thinking of the new idea, the story that hasn't been told yet."

Prior to joining Discovery, Liguori was chairman of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting. Before that, he was president/CEO of FX Networks. Other positions at Fox included senior vice president of marketing, and vice president of consumer marketing at HBO.

Discovery says the COO will be eliminated.

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