Gavin, Sabin to leave Discovery

Discovery Channel’s Dolores Gavin is leaving her post as exec VP of development and production for the US East Coast, along with chief operating officer Edward Sabin.

Both departures come ahead of the arrival of former Shine America exec Rich Ross as president of the US channel in January.

Gavin, who was promoted to the position in early 2013, will have her job duties taken over by Denise Contis, VP of production and development, West Coast.

Gavin was previously at History Channel, where she was serving as VP of programming and development.

Meanwhile, Sabin announced in a memo that he was leaving because of “structural changes” in the leadership of the company, suggesting that Ross wants his own team at Discovery.

“In light of recent management and structural changes in the leadership of the company, the opportunity to be across multiple businesses in an operational role is no longer available,” the memo read. “As a consequence, the company and I have decided amicably to part ways.”

Ross left Shine in October to become president of Discovery Channel following the proposal to merge Endemol, Shine and Core Media.

Based in LA and reporting to Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav, Ross will oversee creative and brand strategy, development, production, marketing and day-to-day operations at the US cablenet.