Discovery Communications has hired Angela Shapiro-Mathes to head TLC. She was President of Fox Television Studios.

TLC has been rudderless since David Abraham left in February, and the new head of Discovery, David Zaslav, wants an LA presence for TLC. The network’s mandate used to be “lifelong learning for viewers who want to grow up, not old”, which makes it sound like a bran cereal.
Now, TLC is supposed to get more appealing to women. How the addition of American Chopper to the line-up helps accomplish that isn’t clear.

TLC has been known for re-treads of BBC shows, as well as a mish-mash of programming with Miami Ink, Big World, Little People, and Fake Baboon Ass and House Demolition Challenge.

Shapiro-Mathes co-founded Soap Opera Digest magazine, and then segued into ABC daytime, Disney, and ABC Family Channel. She left there when Anne Sweeney took over.

At FTVS, she’d been pushing scripted shows, as well as making a deal with Hearst to put CosmoGirl and Popular Mechanics on broadband. She’d also bought the tv rights to The Devil Wears Prada. And we’re pretty sure we’ll never see that series air.