Charter Communications has announced the hiring of veteran TV production executive Katherine Pope as senior VP and head of original content.
The hiring of the former NBCUniversal and Chernin Group executive comes on the heels of Charter’s innovative programming partnership agreements with AMC and Viacom. Charter has agreements with both programmers to co-produce original content, enticing subscribers with exclusive shows.
RELATED: Charter signs AMC Networks to exclusive programming deal
Pope will be based in Los Angeles and oversee both partnerships, as well as any similar content deals Charter signs in the future.
She’ll report to David Ellen, senior executive VP for the No. 2 U.S. cable company.
"Katherine's creativity, strategic prowess, and wealth of industry knowledge will play an instrumental role in positioning Charter as an industry leader in the creation and distribution of high-quality, original entertainment that will further differentiate Charter's market-leading video products in ways that create value and drive subscribership,” Ellen said in a statement.
Pope joins Charter from Studio 8, where she spearheaded the launch of the company’s TV division. Prior to that, she served as president of television for Chernin Entertainment, and she spent 10 years at NBCUniversal TV Studios.
In April, Charter announced a deal with AMC Networks in which the programmer’s studio unit will produce exclusive shows for the cable operator’s Spectrum platform.
The companies expect the first shows co-produced and co-funded through the deal to premiere on Charter Spectrum in 2018. Under the agreement, Charter will have an exclusive initial window in the U.S., while AMC Studios will retain subsequent rights, including the right to distribute the content internationally.
Charter announced a similar deal with Viacom in October.