Kathleen Finch

Kathleen Finch was named Discovery, Inc’s Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer in 2018, following the company’s acquisition of Scripps Networks. Finch leads Discovery’s 12-network portfolio of lifestyle networks, highlighted by HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, TRVL and OWN, among others. Finch also supervises the Digital Lifestyle Studios Group, responsible for producing video and social content in support of Discovery’s digital businesses.

In 4Q2021, driven by this leading collection of brands, Discovery networks delivered a 20% share of all Pay-TV Primetime viewing by W25-54 and was the #1 Most-Watched Pay TV Portfolio in the US among W25-54 and P/W18+. During 2021, HGTV, ID and Food Network were the Top 3 cable networks in Total Day among W25-54. In 2021 Prime, TLC ranked as the #1 cable network among W24-54, while HGTV and Food were ranked as the #5 and #6 non-news/sports cable networks in the demo.

In 2021, seven of the Top 10 highest-rated W25-54 unscripted freshman series in all of cable—and 22 of the Top 30—came from Finch’s Lifestyle Group, among them Home Town Takeover, No Demo Reno, Farmhouse Fixer, Battle on the Beach and Bargain Block from HGTV; 90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise, Extreme Sisters and You, Me & My Ex from TLC; and Holiday Baking Championship: Gingerbread Showdown and Easter Basket Challenge from Food Network.

Finch’s portfolio of networks contain some of the biggest hits on television, including HGTV’s Home Town and Celebrity IOU; Food Network’s Tournament of Champions and Buddy vs. Duff; ID’s On the Case with Paula Zahn and Evil Lives Here; TRVL’s Ghost Adventures; and the #1 program for women on Sunday nights, TLC’s 90 Day Fiance franchise.

Prior to the Discovery acquisition, Finch served as Chief Programming, Content & Brand Officer for all six Scripps Networks, including all linear and digital media brands. She was promoted to this position after serving as President of HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country. Finch led the networks to record ratings and revenues and launched such notable talent-driven series as Fixer Upper, Flip or Flop, Ellen’s Design Challenge featuring Ellen DeGeneres, The Property Brothers, Love It or List It and DIY Network’s Blog Cabin, the first ever interactive home renovation series produced on-air and online.

Before joining HGTV, Finch spent seven years as Senior Vice President of Programming at Food Network where she developed long-running series such as Unwrapped, Food Network Challenge and Ace of Cakes. Prior to joining Scripps Networks in 1999, Finch worked as a broadcast and print journalist, highlighted by a 12-year career as a CBS Network News producer, traveling the world to cover breaking news and events.

A graduate of Stanford University, Finch also participated in the CTAM Executive Management Program and the Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) Betsy Magness Leadership Institute. Among her industry awards and honors, she has been named a “Woman to Watch” by Multichannel News and WICT; one of TIME’s “100 Industry Innovators to Watch,” and was featured in Broadcasting & Cable’s “The Next Wave: B&C’s Annual Salute to Women Who Make a Difference.” Finch also was named Adweek’s Television Executive of the Year in 2018; was an Alliance for Women in Media 2017 honoree and named WICT’s Woman of the Year in 2016. Finch is a member of The Committee of 200, the Fast Company Impact Council, and serves on the boards of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Association of Television Program Executives. She resides with her family in New York City.