HENRY S. SCHLEIFF

President and Chief Executive Officer
Crown Media Holdings, Inc.
Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel


Biography

    Henry S. Schleiff is President and Chief Executive Officer of Crown Media Holdings, Inc., owner and operator of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel – the nation’s leading networks in providing quality family friendly programming.  He joined the company in October, 2006, and is based in its New York office.  In this role he leads a team of seasoned industry professionals who oversee all of the networks’ divisions, including:  programming, distribution, advertising sales, marketing, communications, finance, legal and new media applications.

    Schleiff was most recently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Court TV Network, having joined the crime and justice network in October, 1998 which he helped re-launch by introducing several successful non-fiction series, documentaries, specials and original movies as well as adding popular off-network dramatic series and movies to the evening schedule.  In addition, Schleiff built upon the network’s exclusive daytime live trial coverage and expert analysis by signing a variety of established anchors and commentators.  Under Schleiff’s stewardship, Court TV became one of the most successful basic cable networks in the industry, having grown from 30 million subscribers to its current status with over 85 million subscribers and as a leader among all cable networks in prime time ratings.

    Schleiff joined Court TV as a television veteran with an extensive background in management and production.  From 1996-1998, Schleiff was the Executive Vice President for Studios USA, where he was responsible for evaluating all East Coast broadcasting and cable opportunities for the TV group, developing new talent relationships with independent and niche producers and overseeing the production of various issue-related talk shows. 

   From 1992-1996, Schleiff was Executive Producer for Viacom International Inc., where his production credits included a variety of original television movies, dramatic series and specials for such networks as HBO, Showtime, USA, Lifetime and AMC.

   From 1987-1992, Schleiff was Senior Vice President of Viacom International Inc. and Chairman and CEO of Viacom’s Broadcast and Entertainment Groups, where he was responsible for overseeing the production of all prime time network and first-run programming, all domestic and foreign syndication, the company’s five TV and fourteen radio stations, as well as its licensing, merchandising and new media operations. 

    From 1981-1987, Schleiff was Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Administration for HBO and head of HBO Enterprises.  He began his career as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge, M. Gurfein, S.D.N.Y., and became a corporate associate with the Wall Street law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.

   Schleiff is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc. (IRTS), and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of The International Council; The Creative Coalition; Help USA; Theatreworks USA; Guild Hall of East Hampton; The American Museum of the Moving Image; The Cable Center; the Board of Governors of the Museum of Television and Radio Media Center; the Dean’s Council of the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; the Executive Leadership Cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation; and, the We Are Family Foundation.

   Schleiff received a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, where he was an Editor of the Law Review.  A native of New York, Schleiff resides in Manhattan with his wife, Peggy, and sons, Harry and Sidney.

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