Discovery development VP joins A&E

Long-time Discovery Communications development exec Amy Savitsky is joining rival A&E Network.

Savitsky (pictured) will be senior VP, development and programming at the A+E Networks-owned cable channel.

This comes after Elaine Frontain Bryant was named executive VP and head of programming earlier this following the departure of David McKillop and promotion of Rob Sharenow to A&E EVP and general manager.

It also follows the appointment of Paul Buccieri as president of A&E and History.

Savitsky will be based in New York, and drive the network’s non-fiction development, reporting to Frontain Bryant.

She will oversee day-to-day management of the development team with Shelly Tatro, who remains SVP, development and programming, having joined in February 2014 from VH1.

At Discovery, where she spent more than a decade, she was most recently SVP, development at TLC. There she oversaw the launch of shows such as Breaking Amish and My 600lb Life.

Prior to that, she was VP, development for Discovery Channel, where she worked on shows such as Alaska: The Last Frontier, Property Wars and Swamp Brothers. She has also worked at Discovery Health Channel and DreamWorks SKG.

“Amy joins A&E with a proven track record of developing long-running franchises that engage viewers,” said Frontain Bryant. “With her experience developing buzzy factual content, Amy is the perfect fit for the A&E brand.”