Discovery Kids Alum Among Sprout’s New Hires

NEW YORK: NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment’s Sprout has made three appointments to its leadership team, including former Discovery Kids exec Dea Connick Perez as VP of program strategy and acquisitions.

In her newly created role, Perez will work under Amy Friedman, Sprout’s senior VP of programming. She will oversee programming and scheduling strategy for the 24-hour preschool channel to maximize cross-platform viewership. Collaborating with research and marketing, she will create tentpole events for both linear and digital platforms, striving to capitalize on market trends and emerging platform opportunities.

Previously, Perez served as principal of Dea Connick Perez Media Consultancy. Before that, she was acting general manager and VP of programming at Discovery Kids Media. She has also worked for Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

Chanon Cook has become Sprout’s VP of insights and strategy, reporting to Frances Berwick, NBCU’s president of lifestyle networks. She is charged with managing the research team, generating actionable insights and recommendations from qualitative and quantitative research data. She will advise the programming and marketing teams in support of ratings, brand and business growth goals, and will oversee all primary research studies.

Most recently, Cook served as VP of research and analytics for IFC. Prior to that, she was senior VP of strategic insights and research at Comedy Central. She has also worked for Lifetime and USA Network.

Shane Lindley has taken up the new role of VP of digital, responsible for Sprout’s digital business and creating experiences for the preschool audience across all digital platforms. He will also set strategic direction for growing the channel’s digital business, including expanding and enhancing content plans, analytics, product and technology. He will work under Jennifer Giddens, Sprout’s senior VP of marketing and digital.

Lindley joins Sprout from Epix, where he was senior director of digital programming and product. He has also worked for DreamWorks, where he led the digital publishing business. Earlier in his career, he held positions at The Walt Disney Company and BBC Children’s Interactive.

“It is a dynamic time at Sprout, as we continue to grow both in viewership and content, and now more than ever, it’s critical that we provide our youngest viewers with seamless multiplatform experiences,” said Berwick. “As we looked across the business, we made the decision to bolster our senior management across two vital functions. These new roles will help us continue our growth trajectory and launch each new show in the best possible way, while ensuring our insights team has smart, seasoned leadership to continue to inform network strategy.”