Lifetime Networks today appointed two program executives to the rank of Vice President, including the promotion of Kimberly Chessler to Vice President, Reality Programming, while Paul Hardy has joined the network as Vice President, Reality Programming. The announcement was made today by Gena McCarthy, Senior Vice President, Reality & Alternative Programming, Lifetime Networks.
Based in New York, Chessler and Hardy will be responsible for developing and overseeing production of non-fiction projects for Lifetime. They will report to McCarthy.
"Kim has been instrumental in building the
Dance Moms franchise into a cultural phenomenon and major hit for Lifetime. I am very pleased to recognize her many contributions to the company with this much deserved promotion," said McCarthy. "Paul brings to
Lifetime a proven track record, strong relationships in the unscripted space and a unique perspective on where the genre is heading."
Chessler joined
Lifetime in 2010 as Senior Director, Reality Programming. She has been responsible for overseeing the development and production of the network's hit docusoap Dance Moms, starring Abby Lee Miller, as well as the reality competition series Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.
Dance Moms returned for its third season on January 1, when it averaged a series high 2.8 million Total Viewers and posted double digit jumps across the key demographics versus its Summer 2012 season premiere. It also is Lifetime's youngest skewing series, with a median age of 32 years old. Chessler also oversaw Lifetime's recent hidden-camera comedy show Prank My Mom and is currently preparing the launch of its upcoming family docusoap Preachers' Daughters, which will follow the lives of teenage pastors' daughters and their watchful parents as they balance
The Temptations of adolescence with the expectations of following household beliefs. Prior to Lifetime, she was at
Oxygen for ten years, during which she held numerous positions, ranging from Manager of Development to Director of Production. While there, she oversaw six seasons of Oxygen's highest rated series The Bad Girls Club, as well as 150 hours of Snapped, its longest-running series, and the programs Dance Your Ass Off and Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too. Chessler graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.
Most recently, Hardy was Director of Program Development for truTV, where he developed such series as Swamp Hunters, The Weiner's Circle, Possum Holler Garage,
Killer Karaoke and Guinness Book of World Records. Before that, he was Director of Development for Embassy Row Productions. While there, Hardy was responsible for developing and producing a number of reality, entertainment and factual formats, including Bravo's Watch What Happens Live and CBS' The Pyramid Game. Hardy also has served as an Executive Producer in development for Endemol
USA and was Creator and Executive Producer of the
VH1 hidden camera series Motormouth. Other credits on Hardy's resume include, naming a few, Supervising Producer for Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call (ABC), Senior Producer for Opportunity Knocks (ABC), Game Show in My Head (CBS), Amnesia (NBC), Wanna Bet? (ABC), Do You Trust Me? (CBS) and The Great American Dream Vote (ABC); and Producer of My Dad Is Better than Your Dad (NBC). A native of the U.K., Hardy, who is fluent in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese, has produced numerous series for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV. He is a member of the U.K.'s Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union, as well as the Writers Guild of America.
ABOUT LIFETIME
Lifetime is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. In 2012, as a result of its aggressive triple threat programming strategy doubling its amount of original programming spanning scripted dramas, reality series and movies,
Lifetime posted its strongest year-on-year growth among the key demographics in 10+ years, while also reaching its youngest median age in 16 years.
Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R),
Lifetime Real Women(R) and
Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of
Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.
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