Kathleen Finch

As HGTV’s general manager, Kathleen Finch is responsible for the development, production and strategic scheduling of more than 1,000 annual hours of original programming for Scripps Networks Interactive’s Home Category brands, HGTV and DIY Network.

After seven years at sister property Food Network, Finch joined the Home Category in late 2005 as the SVP/GM of DIY Network where she oversaw programming, creative services, marketing and press. After serving in that role for five years, she was elevated to SVP/GM of HGTV’s programming team before taking on her current role in early 2012.

Finch’s oversight has helped lead to record ratings at HGTV where she’s launched such notable series and talent as The Property Brothers, Million Dollar Rooms, Kitchen Cousins and Selling Spelling Manor. She is responsible for revitalizing longtime viewer favorites House Hunters and House Hunters International with spin-offs House Hunters on Vacation and House Hunters: Renovation. Her eye for program promotion has resulted in national media partnerships with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Rachael Ray Show and HGTV Magazine. 

As DIY Network’s SVP/GM, Finch launched high-profile partnerships with noteworthy entities, including NBC’s Today, Major League Baseball, the NFL and a variety of media and marketing franchises.  She developed original network series such as the highly recognizable Crashers franchise, including Yard Crashers, as well as Blog Cabin and Run My Renovation, the first-ever interactive homebuilding and home renovation series produced for television and online. She green lit the very successful The Vanilla Ice Project and also negotiated top-tier guest appearances for the network, including Snoop Dogg, Rainn Wilson and Jay Leno, in addition to a variety of sports stars.
 
Beginning her SNI career in 1998 at Food Network as the senior vice president of primetime programming, she created numerous hit series including Unwrapped and Food Network Challenge, and discovered talents Paula Deen and Sandra Lee. Additionally, she handled Food Network syndication and placed series and specials on broadcast stations in more than 75 percent of the United States. Finch’s influence has been felt beyond her work at Food Network, HGTV and DIY Network – five of the six SNI properties currently air series she developed.

Prior to SNI, she spent 12 years as a CBS Network News producer and worked as a writer and columnist for numerous magazines, including Cosmopolitan, SmartMoney and Ladies Home Journal.
 
Finch was named one of “100 Industry Innovators to Watch” by Time magazine; was featured in Broadcasting & Cable’s “The Next Wave: B&C’s Annual Salute to Women Who Make a Difference”; and was named a "2011 Woman to Watch" by both WICT and Multichannel News.  She has also been named to CableFAX’s “Most Powerful Women in Cable” and “CableFAX 100” lists. Finch is a graduate of Stanford University, the CTAM Executive Management Program, WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, and Scripps Leadership Institute.

She currently serves on the board of the Knoxville Metropolitan Airport Authority and lives with her husband, a magazine executive, and three daughters in Knoxville, Tenn.