OWN President Exits

LOS ANGELES: Robin Schwartz is stepping down as the president of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable channel that is slated to launch early next year.

First hired as programming chief last year, Schwartz helped set up the channel’s Los Angeles offices and established its program development process. Schwartz’s position will not be filled.

Earlier this year, MTV veteran Christina Norman was named as CEO of OWN, which is a joint venture of Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey. The channel will take the slot currently filled by Discovery Health next year.

“I want to thank Robin for her hard work, dedication and passion over the past several months,” said Norman in a statement. “She assembled a great executive team and grew the vision for OWN out of its infancy. As a result of her resignation, I’ve decided to streamline executive reporting and will not be replacing the position.”