Former OWN COO John MacDonald Joins Canada's Corus Entertainment
TORONTO John MacDonald, the former COO of Oprah Winfreys struggling OWN TV network, has landed a job as the new TV head at Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment.
MacDonald, who left OWN earlier this year, becomes vp of television, head of programming and production at Toronto-based Corus from Oct. 15.
He fills a post left empty with the promotion of Maria Hale to vp of TV, head of digital and content distribution.
MacDonald, an MTV Networks programming veteran, joined Winfrey's cable network in 2010, overseeing program planning and digital strategy, among other duties.
While at OWN, MacDonald worked with Corus on the Canadian launch of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network north of the border.
MacDonald will oversee TV programming for Corus, including content production, acquisitions and scheduling across its specialty and pay channels, which includes W, ABC Spark and Movie Central, which has supply deals with HBO and Showtime Networks.