• by Wayne Friedman , October 28, 2014

On the heels of a merger among three top TV production companies, Rich Ross, chief executive officer of Shine America and former Disney executive, has been hired as president of Discovery Communications’ flagship Discovery Channel.

Ross will start in January 2015, overseeing creative and brand strategy, development, production, marketing and all day-to-day operations for the network. He will report to David Zaslav, president/chief executive officer of Discovery Communications.

As chief executive officer of Shine America, Ross was responsible for Shine Group’s U.S. operations, overseeing production, distribution and marketing of original programming including Fox’s “MasterChef” and “MasterChef Junior” and NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.”

Ross replaces Eileen O’Neill, who moves over to head Discovery’s global production operation in August.

Before Shine, Ross was chairman of The Walt Disney Studios from 2009 to 2012. Previous to that, he was president of Disney Channels Worldwide from 2004 to 2009.

"Rich is one of the most creative storytellers, ratings drivers, brand builders and TV executives in the industry today," said Zaslav.

Ross’s move follows the completion of the merger between 21st Century Fox’s Shine Group and Apollo Global Management’s Endemol and Core Media Corp production companies.