Lifetime Taps Programming Veteran as President, CEO

A veteran cable TV programmer has been hired to breathe new life into the Lifetime cable channel.

Betty Cohen, who helped launch the Cartoon Network, on Thursday was named president and chief executive of Lifetime Entertainment Services, which operates women-oriented channels owned jointly by Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. and Hearst Corp. of New York.

The flagship Lifetime Television is one of cable’s most popular channels and is best known for its original movies. Those films draw respectable ratings but rarely generate the kind of buzz that channels crave to stand out amid the clutter.

Lifetime’s competitors have scored with attention-grabbing shows such as MTV’s “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica,” with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey; Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”; and FX’s plastic surgeon drama “Nip/Tuck.”

“The challenge is going to be looking at all the different ways that we can attract women,” Cohen said in an interview. “The key is figuring out who our audience is, what more we can offer them and who else we can get.”

Cohen, 48, spent more than a decade at Turner Broadcasting Systems, overseeing the creation and launch of the Cartoon Network, which snared a loyal audience with such edgy animated shows as “Power Puff Girls.”

In 2002, Cohen left Time Warner Inc., parent of Turner Broadcasting, to run her own media consulting firm.

Cohen starts her new job April 26. She replaces Carole Black, who left New York-based Lifetime last week.

Cohen will oversee a company that includes Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Radio for Women.

“Everyone is looking for signature shows,” Cohen said. “We want to build on the success that Lifetime has already achieved and look at other segments of women that we might attract.”