Marjorie Kaplan Exiting Discovery, International Team Reorganized

LONDON: Discovery Networks International has unveiled a major restructuring, with Marjorie Kaplan exiting the company and Susanna Dinnage taking on leadership for the international content division.

The international content group, currently led by Kaplan, will become part of the U.K./Ireland business, under the leadership of Dinnage. Dinnage assumes the elevated role of president and managing director of Discovery Networks U.K./Ireland, with her responsibilities expanding to include content creation for the international business. In her new post, she will not only develop new genres and formats for U.K. audiences with an eye toward global appeal, she will also work with international teams to source the best ideas and stories that can travel to other markets and worldwide.

Kaplan, who has been serving as president of international content, will leave her role at the end of the year, following a successful transition period working with Dinnage and the internationally based creative teams.

JB Perrette, the president of Discovery Networks International, said: “Susanna is a great creative and commercial leader. She has successfully grown the U.K. business over the last seven years and has been instrumental in building our brands and channels in our biggest market outside the U.S. Redeploying resources to the U.K. team, as well as bolstering the innovative work done by Discovery’s local creative teams worldwide, will ensure a healthy pipeline of content for the company’s loved brands around the world.

“Marjorie is an incredible business leader, widely admired both internally and externally, having transformed multiple businesses at the company and with long-running hit series on virtually all our channels, to her credit. I know she is excited to seek out an entirely new challenge, but her legacy will remain and she will be miss.”

Dinnage said: “Aligning our London-based content creation business with the U.K. business really underscores our creative and financial commitment to the U.K. production community. Discovery is a great company with fantastic brands and channels and a lot of amazing creative talent. I am really looking forward to harnessing our own talent and ideas with the innovative production sector in the U.K. to develop new ideas, talent, genres, formats and funding models that resonate both with U.K. audiences and across the globe.”

Kaplan added: “I believe strongly in the power of global content and universal human stories. Discovery’s international business must prioritize local relevance to best serve international audiences and drive growth, and further leverage its incredibly creative talent around the world. As a result, the current central structure doesn’t make sense for the company or for me. Although this is a bittersweet decision for me, I expect it to also be the start of new adventures as exciting as those I have undertaken while at Discovery.”