Henry S. Schleiff
Group President - Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel, Destination America
HENRY S. SCHLEIFF
Group President
Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America
Henry S. Schleiff is Group President of the Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America portfolio, overseeing the development, production, scheduling, research, marketing, communications and online efforts for all three networks. Known for revitalizing and strengthening brands, Schleiff’s portfolio features some of the fastest growing networks in television.
Under Schleiff’s leadership, Investigation Discovery (ID) has grown from the #50 network to a top five television network for women and the #1 network in all of television for audience engagement. In addition, ID has gone from 54 million homes in 2009, when Schleiff joined the network, to more than 85 million homes, today.
Schleiff also oversees American Heroes Channel and Destination America, responsible for the continued growth and success of those networks and their brands. Destination America debuted on Memorial Day, 2012 as the only network dedicated to celebrating the people, places and stories of the United States, with programming genres that include food, travel, adventure, natural history and property. Unveiled in March, 2014 in more than 60 million homes, American Heroes Channel (formerly the Military Channel) is the nation’s only channel devoted to the true stories of American heroism, military strategy and significant turning points in history.
From 2006- 2009, Schleiff was President and Chief Executive Officer of Crown Media Holdings, Inc., owner and operator of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel. Under his leadership, Hallmark Channel became one of the best performing cable channels in the industry, enjoying significant growth and success across the board in distribution, ratings and revenue, leading to record profits.
Previously, Schleiff was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Court TV Network, which under his stewardship, became one of the most successful basic cable networks in the industry, growing from 30 million subscribers to more than 85 million subscribers and becoming a leading cable network in prime time.
Schleiff joined Court TV as a television veteran with an extensive background in management and production, having held senior management positions at Studios USA, Viacom International, Inc. and HBO. He began his career as a law clerk for a United States District Court Judge and became a corporate associate with the Wall Street law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Schleiff serves on the board of directors for the International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc. (IRTS), The Creative Coalition; The U.S. Fund for UNICEF; the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights; Help USA; the We Are Family Foundation; Guild Hall of East Hampton; The Hamptons International Film Festival; The American Museum of the Moving Image; the Dean’s Council of the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; and, the Executive Leadership Cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial 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.