Schwartz Out at OWN
I have done no official research, but I wonder if this holds the record for the shortest tenure as president of a network: Robin Schwartz today resigned her position as president of OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network, marking not even one year on the job. Not only did she not last a year, she also didn’t make it to launch. If I were her, I would find that very disappointing.
“I want to thank Robin for her hard work, dedication and passion over the past several months,” said Christina Norman, OWN’s CEO, who was hired after Schwartz. “She assembled a great executive team and grew the vision for OWN out of its infancy. As a result of her resignation, I’ve decided to streamline executive reporting and will not be replacing the position.”
Schwartz’ contributions were appreciated, says sources, but a CEO and a president of a heretofore small venture proved too top heavy. Schwartz is not departing the network for economic reasons, which would probably be the case if she were working for almost anyone but Oprah.
Schwartz joined OWN from Regency Television, where she served as president.
OWN is scheduled to launch in Q1 2010, and just completed its first upfront presentation.
mediax commented:
One wonders if the executives brought over from MTV aren't bringing the MTV culture to OWN too. What type of programming will air on this channel with just the MTV crowd remaining?
SUX4ROBIN commented:
Oh, puhlease. She was pushed out. The handwriting was on the wall as soon as Christina Norman was hired. Too bad, really. I know Robin. She deserved better, she's a class act and a good exec.