Lee Bartlett Joins Discovery’s Senior Team

SILVER SPRING: Former ITV exec Lee Bartlett is joining Discovery Communications as executive VP of global production management for business and legal affairs, while Bruce Campbell has been promoted within the company to chief development officer and general counsel.

Previously, at ITV, Bartlett had served as managing director, before shifting to a solely international position when Channel 4 veteran Kevin Lygo entered the company. Bartlett takes up his new role at Discovery on September 1. He will be based in Los Angeles, while also maintaining offices in the Silver Spring and London locations. He will report to COO Peter Liguori.

"Having known and worked with Lee for many years, I can attest firsthand to his expertise and skill in managing and negotiating high-level production and content acquisition deals," said Liguori.  "Lee’s experience and innovative spirit will be a major asset to Discovery Communications as we continue to build our global brands with the highest quality nonfiction programming across our portfolio."

Campbell was previously the president of digital media and corporate development for Discovery. He takes over in the general counsel role from Joe LaSala, who is leaving the post at the end of 2010. Campbell will continue his responsibilities for global business development. Continuing to report to David Zaslav, Discovery’s president and CEO, Campbell will divide his time between the offices in Silver Spring and New York City.

"Bruce was one of the first people that I brought on when I joined Discovery three years ago and he has been instrumental in driving many of our key growth strategies, including our digital media business and joint ventures with Oprah Winfrey, Hasbro and our 3D network with Sony and IMAX," said Zaslav. "I worked with Bruce for many years at NBC and now Discovery. He is one of the smartest people I know and will be a great leader for our development and legal organizations."