If there is a difference between wild animals and real housewives, Whitney Holland is in position to find out exactly what it is.

The former VP of Program Planning for Animal Planet today was appointed to the same position at Bravo, home of the "Real Housewives" reality show brand. In her new position, Holland will oversee Bravo's short-term and long-term program planning rollouts. She will report to Bravo's Senior Vice President, Program Strategy Jerry Leo, who will work with Holland to create and execute the network's programming schedule.

Holland worked at Animal Planet before Bravo, and she served as director of scheduling for TLC prior to that. She also previously worked as vice president of Nielsen Entertainment, which she joined from Paramount Pictures Worldwide Television.

A full release about Holland's new move, after the jump

(Photo by David Lang)

WHITNEY HOLLAND NAMED VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAM PLANNING, BRAVO

NEW YORK -- September 3, 2009 -- Whitney Holland has been named Vice President of Program Planning, Scheduling and Acquisitions for Bravo. The announcement was made by Jerry Leo, Bravo's Senior Vice President, Program Strategy and Acquisitions, to whom she will report. Holland will be based at Bravo's New York headquarters.

Holland will be responsible for building both short-term and long-term program planning rollouts for the network, and along with Leo, spearheading the strategic vision and execution of Bravo's buzz-generating programming schedule. She will supervise acquisitions for Bravo, working closely with Leo and various studios to identify movies, specials and series that complement the network's affluent brand.

"Whitney brings her expansive cable and entertainment experience, intuitive program planning abilities and an overall passion for all things television to Bravo," said Leo. "She is a welcome addition to the network as we continue to envision strategies to surpass our short-term and long-term programming and viewership goals."

Before joining Bravo, Holland served as Vice President of Program Planning for Animal Planet, where she worked closely with the network's development team to guide their programming goals. Prior to that, Holland was Director of Scheduling for TLC in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she paired her expertise as a research analyst with her strong managerial abilities to schedule and direct long-term program planning. Previously, Holland was the vice president of Nielsen Entertainment, heading up the West Coast division and working with clients that included CBS, UPN and Discovery. She came to Nielsen from Paramount Pictures Worldwide Television, where she rose quickly because of her innovation in marketing shows based on Nielsen data, eventually working as their Vice President of research.

Holland is originally from Phoenix, Arizona and attended the University of Arizona, receiving a B.F.A. in Media Arts with an emphasis in television management. While in school, she worked as a programming assistant and production operator for KGUN, a local television station in Tucson. She currently resides in New York.