Executive Suite

Bob DeBitetto would be lying if he told you he wasn't bothered by the outsize media attention little-watched critics' darlings such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad receive, particularly because his shows -- critically ignored efforts from Duck Dynasty to Storage Wars -- deliver at least two times the viewership. But that all could change when his Psycho prequel Bates Motel, a scripted drama from Lost's Carlton Cuse starring Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga, launches in 2013. Other provocative scripted efforts will follow as the New York-based executive, 56, continues to push the reality-heavy A&E -- under the leadership of newly promoted Nancy Dubuc -- in new directions. When he took over the network in 2003, after a stint at Turner, it was the No. 22 cable net among the 18-to-49 set; today, it is No. 6. The married DeBitetto, whose DVR houses everything from Damages to Gossip Girl to Jersey Shore, sat down with THR during a trip to Los Angeles in August to discuss the waning value of repeats, the perils of the unscripted business and his big bet on Bates Motel.