Robert Sharenow

President of Programming
A+E Networks

Rob Sharenow is Executive Vice President and General Manager of A&E Network and Lifetime. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all creative and strategic business matters for the two networks, including programming, acquisitions, marketing, and brand development. A veteran executive for A+E Networks and having lead two successful tenures at A&E and Lifetime, Sharenow was given oversight of both networks in February 2015.

Sharenow joined Lifetime in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Programming and in 2013 was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Manager. Under his leadership, the network has enjoyed two consecutive years of record Emmy nominations, culminating in 2014 with 17 nominations over eight separate programs. Lifetime has also doubled its original content, growing its scripted offerings to include the hit series Devious Maids, Lifetime’s fastest-growing drama ever, and the upcoming UnREAL, Damien and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. The network’s reality slate includes the Emmy® nominated series Project Runway, and the hit docusoaps Dance Moms, Little Women: LA, and Bring It!, Lifetime’s fastest-growing series ever. A leader in longform, Lifetime is ad-supported cable’s number one destination for original movies. The films Flowers in the Attic, Aaliyah: Princess of R&B, The Gabby Douglas Story, Petals on the Wind and Lizzie Borden Took an Ax ranked as 2014’s top five movie telecasts in cable among key demographics, while the January 2015 movie Whitney is television’s highest-rated movie to date. Sharenow is also leading the network’s expansion into features with Lifetime Films’ The Last of Robin Hood and Lila and Eve.

At A&E, Sharenow is responsible for overseeing the network’s industry-leading slate of nonfiction programming that has been the cornerstone of the network’s success, including Storage Wars, Intervention, Duck Dynasty and The First 48, as well as A&E’s original scripted drama series, emphasizing the network’s commitment to great characters and storytelling, including the hit series Bates Motel.
Before joining Lifetime, Sharenow was Senior Vice President of Non-Fiction & Alternative Programming at A&E, where he was responsible for supervising the development and creation of all of its non-fiction programming, including its signature real-life series, justice franchises, critically-acclaimed documentary series, A&E IndieFilms, lifestyle programming and marquee specials. During his tenure at A&E, he developed and/or served as executive producer on several critically-acclaimed and hit real-life series including Intervention, Storage Wars, Hoarders, Beyond Scared Straight, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, The First 48, Manhunters and Growing Up Gotti. Under his leadership, A&E IndieFilms produced and released several theatrical documentary features, including The September Issue, The Tillman Story and Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer.

Before joining A&E, Sharenow served as Executive Producer of History’s award-winning weekly series, This Week in History. While there, he also co-created and launched the series, Extreme History, with Roger Daltrey. In addition, he served as Senior Producer of a special commemorating the anniversary of 9/11, Relics from the Rubble. Additional television writing credits include Michael Moore’s Emmy Award-winning TV Nation and the Emmy-winning children’s series Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? His first novel, My Mother the Cheerleader, was named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by the American Library Association, School Library Journal and the New York Public Library. His second novel, The Berlin Boxing Club, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award and was a finalist for the Walden Award. His third book, The Girl in the Torch, will be published by HarperCollins in May.

Sharenow is a graduate of Brandeis University. He received his Masters degree from New York University, where he held a fellowship in the American Studies department.