KARY MCHOUL JOINS ABC FAMILY AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMING & DEVELOPMENT UNSCRIPTED

Burbank, CA (February 6, 2015) - Karey Burke, Executive Vice President, Programming and Development, ABC Family announced today that industry veteran Kary McHoul will join her team in the newly created role of Senior Vice President, Programming & Development Unscripted beginning Monday, February 9, 2015. McHoul, who is best known for forming Nigel Lythgoe Productions, developing "American Idol" and "The Simple Life with Paris Hilton," and launching "Hell's Kitchen" while at FOX and "The Anna Nicole Smith Show" at E!, will report to Burke.

"Kary is simply the best in the business. She has an incredible track record of creating, packaging and launching hit shows across genres and platforms. She knows how to capture an audience, and we are honored that she has chosen to lead our charge into unscripted series programming. I had the pleasure of working with Kary during her tenure at FOX, and am thrilled to be reunited with her here at ABC Family," said Burke.

Most recently, Kary served as a consultant for new media pioneers the Fine Brothers, who are best known for their successful series "React." She had also been consulting with DanceOn, a dominate programming brand for dance entertainment and one of the top YouTube dance channels in the world, co-founded by Madonna, where she leveraged the audience of powerhouse digital series into successful series for television.

Prior to her work in digital, she and Nigel Lythgoe formed Nigel Lythgoe Productions where she served as President and had overall deals at mega-production company 19 Entertainment and later Shine America where she launched "Opening Act" for E! Entertainment, "A Chance to Dance" for Ovation, and CMT's "Next Superstar."

Before her partnership with Mr. Lythgoe, Kary served as President of Digital Rights Group North America where she packaged formats and sold series for primetime, cable, and syndication in both foreign and domestic markets. Prior to that, Kary built a non-scripted programming department at United Talent Agency.

Kary also served as Senior Vice President of Specials, Alternative and Late Night Programming at FOX under the guidance of Mike Darnell where she helped develop "American Idol" and "The Simple Life with Paris Hilton," and helped develop and launch "Temptation Island," "Family Guy," "Hell's Kitchen," "Kitchen Nightmares," "Nanny 911," "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" and "So You Think You Can Dance." She was the first Head of Development for the E! and Style networks where she expanded both brands and launched "The Anna Nicole Smith Show," which earned the network its highest ratings ever.

Kary began her professional career in television as an intern at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Today, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.