Henry Schleiff is stepping down as president and CEO of Crown Media, effective May 31, he and the company announced Wednesday.
Bill Abbott, the company’s executive VP for advertising sales, will replace Mr. Schlieff as CEO of Crown, which owns Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.
Mr. Schleiff’s decision to resign came after discussions in which he indicated he had accomplished what he was brought in to do at the company, Crown Media said. He also expressed a desire to return to his passion of helping smaller cable networks achieve their potential.
Both Crown and Mr. Schleiff stressed the decision was amicable.
“Indeed, I will always consider my collaboration with the extraordinarily talented team at Hallmark Channel, in bringing the network to its current record profits and successful position, as among the most rewarding experiences of my career,” Mr. Schleiff said in a statement. “Along with great colleagues, I have been fortunate to play a role in the growth of two very different cable networks in recent years and, accordingly, I anticipate exploring new industry challenges with similar success.”