Lifetime made cuts to its unscripted division, TheWrap has learned. Several employees have been axed from the A+E owned network, including Vice President of Programming and Development Nicole Vogel. The cuts are in the single digits, saving down the unscripted division’s already narrow team.
This news comes a year and a week after Lifetime SVP Amy Savitsky as well as VPs Kim Chessler and Cat Rodriguez left the company as part of cuts at the network. That round of layoffs also impacted employees across History and A&E.
Vogel’s departure is especially jarring for the future of the company as she was the most senior member of the unscripted division. She joined Lifetime in 2019 and has spearheaded projects like “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,” “#TextMeWhenYouGetHome,” “Phrogging: Hider in My House,” “Meet, Marry Murder,” Cellmate Secrets and “Beyond the Headlines: Black Girl Missing.” Before joining Lifetime, Vogel was the director of development at WE tv where she developed and executive produced “Extreme Love” and “Love After Lockup.”
As streaming has become more popular, cable networks like Lifetime, History and A&E have taken the biggest hit. During the month of July, streaming accounted for nearly half of all TV viewership, according to data from Nielsen. For the third month in a row, that share was more than viewership for cable and broadcast combined. Owned by Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company, A&E launched in 1984 and has long been known for its true crime documentaries as well as its made-for-TV movies.
