Dark Horse: Former Cartoon Chief Cohen Nabs Lifetime Gig

Betty Cohen, who oversaw the creation and launch of Cartoon Net, will take the reins at Lifetime Apr 26. Cohen’s name wasn’t among the popular list of candidates thought to be up for Carole Black’s job as pres/CEO (SoapNET’s Deborah Blackwell and Lifetime’s Rick Haskins and Lynn Picard received much of the speculation), but it makes a lot of sense. Cohen is a respected female cable vet, having worked for Turner for 14 years, part of that time as vp, gm of TNT. She left Cartoon in ’01 and spent a year working on a mysterious youth-oriented project for Time Warner. She presented her work to Turner in ’02, which said it wasn’t interested at that time. Cohen, who will be making the rounds at National next week, went on to start her own consulting firm, where she advised companies on brand building, cable channel development and multi-platform programming. "My passion lies in developing branded content and related services that entertain, inspire and inform audiences around the world, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do just that at Lifetime," said Cohen, who was named one of "The 50 Most Powerful Women in Business" by Fortune magazine in 2000 and is a past recipient of the NCTA Vanguard Award for programmers. Black ended her 6-year tenure with Lifetime Mar 18.