Nancy Daniels

Head of Discovery, Animal Planet, Science, TBS, TNT & truTV
TLC

As President and General Manager of TLC, Daniels leads the company’s flagship female focused channel, a global brand available in more than 89 million homes in the US and 325 million households around the world. Daniels oversees all aspects of the network’s programming, production, development, multiplatform, communications and marketing. Daniels is the most senior female content executive at Discovery Communications, which reaches 3 billion cumulative viewers across pay-TV and free-to-air platforms in more than 220 countries. Based in the company’s Los Angeles office, she’s held this position since September 2013.

Amid ever more fierce competition for audience, Daniels has maintained TLC’s reign as a top 10 network for women with long running hit series Sister Wives, The Little Couple, My 600 lb Life, Return to Amish, Kate Plus 8, 90 Day Fiancé as well as new series 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Long Lost Family, Skin Tight and OutDaughtered. In 2016, TLC had 27 shows averaging 1.0M P2+ viewers or more. First quarter 2017 marked TLC’s highest rated quarter in Primetime in two years with W25-54 and W18-49. The network is up nearly 20%, in primetime versus year ago and ranked the #7 ad supported cable network among W25-54

In addition to the network’s brand-defining reality series, Daniels spearheaded TLC’s move into scripted in an unprecedented partnership with Tyler Perry. TLC’s first scripted series, Tyler Perry’s Too Close To Home, reached 4.2 million viewers in its premiere airings in August 2016 and returned for a second season in early 2017.

Last year, Daniels accepted a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program for the TLC’s groundbreaking series I Am Jazz following the life of 15-year-old Jazz Jennings documenting her triumphs and struggles from the perspective of a transgender teen.

On top of identifying hit shows, Daniels recognizes the importance of the network’s growth in the multiplatform space and its value as a companion to linear television. Last summer, TLC brought back a beloved TV franchise on multiplatform with A Baby Story Live, bringing two live births to Facebook in an unprecedented event that was broadcasted to viewers in North America from the TLCme Facebook page. One birth story lasted over 8 hours and reached approximately 3 million people on the social media network.

In 2016 Daniels also launched TLC’s powerful brand campaign, “I AM,” that celebrates the differences that make us each who we are and empowers us all to define ourselves, rather than letting others label us. Featuring iconic TLC talent like Theresa Caputo, Kate Gosselin, Jazz Jennings, the campaign promotes embracing our own flaws and strengths to help create a world without judgment. In addition, Daniels championed “Give a little TLC," a national multiplatform cause-marketing campaign dedicated to empowering viewers to make a difference and support organizations that help those in need. Partners include PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, Feeding America, CancerCare, Discovery Communications’ Say Yes to the Prom among others. Daniels embodies TLC’s message that giving a little can go a long way, through her own volunteering with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Los Angeles in partnership with Women in Entertainment Mentoring Program.

Through her creative leadership at TLC, Daniels has driven the content growth engine for the company’s female and lifestyle networks around the world. From Buenos Aires to Budapest, global megahits like Cake Boss and Say Yes to the Dress are available in 45 languages and have spawned several local versions.

Formerly, Daniels served as EVP, Production & Development for Discovery Channel, contributing to the network’s record-breaking success, and overseeing the network’s focus on live events – notably Skywire Live and American Chopper Live, as well as some of their most popular shows including American Chopper, Bering Sea Gold, Fast N’ Loud, Naked And Afraid, Gold Rush, the special The Presidents’ Gatekeepers, and the Emmy nominated All The President’s Men Revisited, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters and Frozen Planet.

Concurrently, Daniels served as General Manager, Discovery Fit and Health, where she had been managing the day-to-day operations of the network. Prior to these positions, she served as Senior Vice President, Production and Development for TLC, overseeing the launch of new diverse hits, including Cake Boss, The Little Couple, Sister Wives, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, the Policewomen franchise and Four Weddings. At the same time, she guided the strength and resurgence of TLC’s longest running hits What Not To Wear and Say Yes To The Dress.

Daniels joined Discovery Communications in 2007 as Vice President of Development and Production for Discovery Studios (West Coast) and was subsequently elevated to Senior Vice President. She has also held executive positions at CBS where she served as Vice President of Alternative Series Development, working on CBS’s key reality properties including Survivor, multiple Emmy Award-winner The Amazing Race and Big Brother, and has had an extensive career as a producer in the independent television community.

Speaking on: Real Talk: Redefining Relevance - What Success Looks Like in a Post-OTT World