TLC ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT DEAL WITH KELLY RIPA & MARK CONSUELOS
NEW YORK CITY, April 23, 2008 � TLC has entered into an overall deal with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos and their company Milojo Productions, it was announced today by TLC President Angela Shapiro-Mathes. Under the agreement, the network will have a first-look deal to all unscripted television projects. In addition, Kelly Ripa will host the as-yet-unnamed series on air.
"I've known Kelly and Mark since the first day each of them joined All My Children," said Shapiro-Mathes. "They reflect our audience, and the audience knows and loves them. They are now an important part of our TLC family," she added. "I'm certain that their talent and understanding of the audience and the medium will bring a fresh perspective to the development process."
"We are thrilled to be partnering with TLC," said Ripa and Consuelos. "The first thing you want in a relationship is for it to feel right, and this definitely feels right. And it's great to be working with Angela Shapiro-Mathes again --- she has been so instrumental in our careers."
About TLC
TLC's innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites What Not to Wear, John & Kate Plus 8, Little People Big World, LA Ink and Ten Years Younger. The channel introduced Miss America Reality Check in 2007 which helped drive the Miss America Pageant to its highest rating in years. TLC defined home design with Trading Spaces and continues to reinvent the genre with Date My House and Your Place or Mine. TLC's daytime lineup includes the Emmy Award-winning A Baby Story as well as Take Home Chef, featuring one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men, Curtis Stone. The channel is available in more than 93 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at www.tlc.com. TLC is part of Discovery Communications which is owned by Discovery Holding Co. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman.
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