Discovery Communications announced on Thursday that Rick Holzman has been promoted to executive VP of programming and strategy for Animal Planet and Science Channel. The Animal Planet veteran will continue to report to Marjorie Kaplan, group president of Animal Planet, Science and Velocity, while also working closely with Debbie Myers, general manager and executive VP of Science Channel, and remaining based in New York.
Holzman has been with Animal Planet since November 2007, most recently as senior VP, programming and scheduling. He has been instrumental in the rebrand and growth as the network shifted to a more robust adult-entertainment destination. Animal Planet had its best year in 2012 and is on track to outpace viewership in 2013, according to Discovery. During Holzman's tenure, the network has found its strongest series: River Monsters, Whale Wars, Finding Bigfoot and Call Of The Wildman.
Science Channel also had its best year in 2012, according to Discovery, citing such shows as Emmy Award-nominated Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman, Ricky Gervais’s An Idiot Abroad and Punkin Chunkin. Through 2Q13, Science Channel has recorded 18 consecutive quarters of year-over-year ratings growth and the first quarter of 2013 marked Science Channel’s best quarter on a delivery basis for P25-54 viewers, Discovery said.
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