Cohen handed the gig of a Lifetime

Exec replaces Black as new prexy

By DENISE MARTIN

Betty Cohen, founder of Cartoon Network and longtime Turner exec, has been named president-CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services.

She replaces Carole Black and will report to Walt Disney Co. co-chair/Disney-ABC TV Group president Anne Sweeney and director of Hearst Corp. John Conomikes starting April 26. Black announced her resignation in November but stayed through the rest of her contract, which expired last month.

News of Cohen's appointment broke Thursday afternoon, with the exec flying in to New York from her home in Atlanta to acquaint herself with Lifetime staffers before the National Show, NCTA's annual cable confab being held April 3-5 in San Francisco. Cohen said she'd spend the next few weeks getting to know the employees on both coasts and then relocate permanently to Gotham.

Decision to hire Cohen comes as something of a surprise -- exec hadn't been on any of the reported short lists for the job during the months-long search. SoapNet topper Deborah Blackwell, a former WMA agent and Hearst exec, and current Lifetime exec VP-general manager Rick Haskins were said to be the lead contenders. Lifetime investors Disney and Hearst had promised to announce Black's successor prior to the National Show, during which net execs will host an off-the-record media dinner.

Cohen will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Lifetime including advertising sales, affiliate sales, research, programming, strategic planning and operations. In addition, she will oversee digital platforms Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women, as well as the company's radio, home entertainment and new-media divisions.

Sweeney and Cohen go back several years, having become professional pals in the mid-'90s while they ran competing kids cablers Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, respectively. Lifetime gig actually marks Cohen's second tour of duty at the women's net, where she was a managing senior producer of on-air promotion early in her career. After a 14-year run at Cartoon/Turner that ended in 2001, she established Betty Cohen Media Consulting, advising companies on brand building, channel development and multiplatform programming.

Dialogue with auds

"I am someone who lives to identify audiences and engage them in a dialogue, which is what I did for quite some time at Cartoon Network," Cohen said. "There is no better place to do that than a 24-hour network in 86 million homes dedicated specifically to women."

Among Cohen's chief priorities will be filling the long-vacant entertainment chief post, last held by Barbara Fisher, who ankled almost a year ago. She'll also focus on developing existing platforms and creating new ones to reach women on a more round-the-clock basis.

Ratings for the women's cabler had been on a downward spiral over the last two years but has seen some recent lift on the heels of a strong Monday-night movie franchise, the cabler's prestige telepics and the addition of some new reality shows.

Building brands

Conomikes said, "Betty is known within the industry for building powerful media brands and fostering business environments where creativity and innovation thrive."

Haskins has been overseeing programming in the interim, filling Lifetime's pipeline with scripted drama and comedy projects that add some attitude and edge to the cabler's traditionally safe mold. Determined to freshen up Lifetime's image, he's also spiced up current programming, recruiting Vivica A. Fox to "Missing" and the net's first-ever male lead, Rick Schroder, to the upcoming season of "Strong Medicine."

Cohen has not yet perused the development slate but says she made the leap to Lifetime because being a women's net "seems incredibly timely."

Women 'on the rise'

"We're living in a world in which a woman could be president in 2008. Shows for women (like 'Sex and the City') have been among the most-talked about in years. Women simply are on the rise," she said. "It's too early to talk strategy, but I want to be smart about how we talk to our audience and make sure we're programming to the right women at the right parts of day with the right kind of programming."

Before Cartoon Network, Cohen was general manager of TNT and held positions in promotions at Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite and Cable Health Network.