KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scripps Networks Interactive, one of the world’s leading developers of lifestyle video content, has created new senior roles designed to optimize the effectiveness of marketing, brand integration and research across its U.S. networks. The appointments follow last month’s promotion of Kathleen Finch to a new cross-network role as Chief Programming, Content & Brand Officer for Scripps Networks.
Shannon Jamieson Driver, who currently leads marketing and creative services for HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country, has been appointed to a new role as Senior Vice President, Network Marketing & Creative Services. Driver will now assume overall responsibility for all six of Scripps Networks’ domestic brands, including Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel, with the marketing teams for those brands now reporting to her. In her new role, Driver will be tasked with developing a more integrated cross-network marketing strategy, designed to enhance Scripps Networks’ ability to connect key programming priorities with consumers across the United States.
Driver has played a key role in establishing HGTV to its position as one of the most popular cable TV networks in the United States, with 15 consecutive months of year-on-year ratings growth. In August, HGTV was the leading cable network for women aged 25-54, for the third month in a row. Driver was recently named Marketer of the Year by Cablefax magazine, reflecting her achievements in driving audience and brand recognition.
Gabriel Gordon, who currently leads research for Food Network and Cooking Channel, has been promoted to lead brand research across all of Scripps Networks Interactive’s brands. As Vice President of Network Research, Gordon will head the company’s efforts to develop deeper understanding of audience behavior on all U.S. networks including HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY Network and Great American Country.
Freddy James has been named Senior Vice President, Network Integrated Programming, working across all six brands to leverage programming content, on-air talent and digital programming extensions to create seamless and convergent integration opportunities. As Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Program Integration, James has played a key role in working with programming teams to develop integrated programming and digital partnerships on HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country, and will now work additionally with teams at Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel to drive strategic content creation across all brands.
Alaka Williams has been appointed Senior Vice President of Network Human Resources, operating across all of Scripps Networks’ brands in the United States. Williams currently leads human resources for Travel Channel. She will continue to report to Chief Human Resources Officer NJ Pesci, and will work closely with Kathleen Finch in her new role as the business takes a more coordinated approach to content creation, scheduling and marketing.
“As we bring together the incredible strength of our media brands, we need to have creative, flexible and smart leaders to enable us to take advantage of the opportunities available to us,” said Finch. “The appointments we are making today are proven executives whose ability to work across both the creative and commercial sides of our business will be critical as we seek to further optimize our capabilities across all of our brands and build audience share.”
In a related move, Cheryl Middleton Jones has been appointed Senior Vice President of International Human Resources. Reporting to NJ Pesci, she will work closely with Jim Samples, President of Scripps Networks International, overseeing HR initiatives and development outside the United States as the company continues to expand rapidly around the globe.
Shannon Jamieson Driver joined Scripps Networks Interactive in 2004, and has served in various roles across the company’s home-related brands, including ad sales marketing, experiential marketing and brand partnerships. She was appointed Senior Vice President of Marketing & Creative Services for HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country in 2014. Driver joined the company from the advertising division of leading public relations firm Edelman, where she worked across multiple accounts with clients in healthcare, financial services and consumer goods.
Gabe Gordon moved to Scripps Networks Interactive in 2005 as Vice President of Brand Research and Strategic Insights for the company’s food brands including Food Network, Cooking Channel and food.com, overseeing programming, marketing and brand research. He has more than twenty years’ experience in audience research, having begun his career with roles at both HBO and Showtime. Prior to joining Scripps Networks, Gordon was Vice President of Programming, Marketing and Online Research for Court TV.
Freddy James began his Scripps Networks career as a producer in 1997, overseeing productions such as HGTV Dream Home and the Rose Parade. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Program Integration in 2013, to head content strategy development around integration, digital convergent content and co-branded opportunities with media outlets including HGTV Magazine and others.
Alaka Williams has almost twenty years’ experience in a variety of human resources leadership roles. For the last five years, she has headed human resources for Travel Channel, based in the company’s Chevy Chase headquarters as a key member of the network’s senior management team. She joined Travel Channel from Live Nation, where she was Regional Human Resources Director for the company’s North American music division. Williams previously held senior HR roles with non-profit early childhood education national organization Zero To Three, and with KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc.
Cheryl Middleton Jones has been part of the human resources team at Scripps Networks Interactive since 2011, and recently returned to the company’s Knoxville, Tennessee, headquarters after nearly two years heading human resources at the company’s offices in Singapore. Middleton Jones previously spent almost ten years in a number of HR roles at banking and financial services group ING, having started her career at multinational conglomerate Honeywell.
About Scripps Networks Interactive
Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) is one of the leading developers of engaging lifestyle content in the home, food and travel categories for television, the Internet and emerging platforms. The company's lifestyle media portfolio comprises popular television and Internet brands HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country, which collectively engage more than 190 million U.S. consumers each month. International operations include TVN, Poland’s premier multi-platform media company; UKTV, an independent commercial joint venture with BBC Worldwide; Asian Food Channel, the first pan-regional TV food network in Asia; and lifestyle channel Fine Living. The company’s global networks and websites reach millions of consumers across North and South America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive is headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn. For more information, please visit scrippsnetworksinteractive.com.
