Lifetime Networks, a US broadcaster that targets a female demographic, has named former NBC Universal executive and six-time Emmy winner, Dan Suratt, to the newly created position of EVP of digital media and business development. Suratt, who will be tasked with overseeing the expansion of Lifetime's digital media business, will be based in New York and will report to Lifetime's president and CEO, Betty Cohen. According to Lifetime, he will be responsible for the strategic, operational, and editorial functions, and for the business development efforts, of Lifetimetv.com, Lifetime Wireless Network and Lifetime Home Entertainment Network, as well as for the interactive elements of Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, and Lifetime Real Women. "We've all seen this year how our entertainment world has been forever changed by the explosion of new media with all its extraordinary possibilities for reaching more consumers," Cohen said in a prepared statement. "While at NBC Universal, Dan's outstanding record of creating innovative digital campaigns and forging partnerships with leading companies demonstrates the talent and experience required to harness all the components of the powerful Lifetime brand into a comprehensive multiplatform business that underscores our role as the leading integrated electronic media company for women."
Suratt was previously VP of business and new media development at NBC Olympics (he was named to that post in December, 2004), and, according to Lifetime, was responsible for the "explosive growth" of the NBCOlympics.com Web site. Among other things, he developed partnerships and pursued new media initiatives with ESPN.com, Google, About.com, DirecTV, EchoStar and TV Guide Channel, and also created both sponsored and non-sponsored programming and branding concepts for on-air execution for the Olympic sales team. He joined NBC in 1995 and, among other things, worked on three Summer Olympics and Two Winter Olympics. He holds a BA from Middlebury College in Vermont and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.
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