Nancy Dubuc has made her first key hire in her new role as president and ceo of A+E Networks.
Though the exec won’t officially transition to her new title until June 1, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that she’s already tapped BBC’s Jana Bennett to run Bio and Lifetime Movie Network.
Bennett’s addition marks the first push to build A+E’s less robust cable networks, with A&E and History now ranking as two of TV’s top performers. The incoming exec, who has worked with the BBC for more than 30 years, previously worked stateside as executive vp and general manager of TLC (then The Learning Channel). She famously helped launch stateside iterations of British formats, including ratings champ and one-time network flagship Trading Spaces.
Most recently serving as president of BBC worldwide networks, Bennett departed the broadcaster in 2012. Elsewhere in the A+E Networks family, History’s Dirk Hoogstra was recently upped to executive vp development and programming at his successful cable network and sister channel H2 — the latter of which is poised for rebuilding similar to Bio and LMN.
