Discovery Hires Hulu’s Lisa Holme to Lead Streaming Strategy

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Lisa Holme, a Hulu veteran who had been leading its international expansion strategy, has joined Discovery in a newly created role to oversee content and commercial strategy for the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming group.

named Holme to the newly created role of group senior VP, content and commercial strategy, in Discovery’s direct-to-consumer group. She is based at Discovery’s L.A. office and reports to Peter Faricy, Discovery’s CEO of Global Direct-to-Consumer.

Prior to joining Discovery, Holme spent nearly 10 years at Hulu, holding senior leadership positions including most recently leading development of Hulu’s international expansion strategy and business plan. In her prior role as Hulu’s VP of content acquisition, Holme was responsible for content strategy and licensing negotiations for exclusive programming with studios and networks. Prior to joining Hulu in 2010, she worked in production and development at Illumination Entertainment and as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

At Discovery, Holme is responsible for setting the content strategy for Discovery’s DTC products in the U.S., including the curation, commissioning and acquisition of content. She will also manage commercial strategy, with a specific focus on distribution partners.

“Lisa brings an impressive track record of success in content to Discovery and will be a key leader as we scale our direct-to-consumer businesses,” Faricy said in announcing her hire. “Lisa’s leadership of our DTC content strategy and commercial partnerships will further bolster Discovery’s position as the leader in unscripted entertainment across all platforms.”

Holme added, “Discovery has excelled at delivering unique and entertaining content to a global fan-base of customers. I’m thrilled to join the team at this exciting moment as the company expands its direct-to-consumer presence, building on its success with additional high-quality programming that will reach consumers in a range of compelling, new ways.”

Food Network Kitchen, which launched last fall, is Discovery’s biggest subscription-based business bet in the U.S. to date. Priced at $6.99 per month or $59.99 per year, the app offers live cooking shows, on-demand instructional and step-by-step cooking videos, a collection of 80,000 recipes, plus original programming and select shows from Food Network’s library.

Discovery’s portfolio of other direct-to-consumer streaming services include Eurosport Player and MotorTrend OnDemand. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company said operating expenses increased 9% to $827 million , primarily because of higher spending for content, marketing and personnel related to the DTC business.

Holme is on the boards of Female Executives in Media and Entertainment and Yale in Hollywood, and she is a founding member of HULA, the women’s group at Hulu. Her industry accolades include being recognized in Variety’s New Leaders in 2016 . Holme received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University.