AMC Networks says its Chief Financial Officer Patrick O’Connell will depart the company in March.
In a press release on Thursday, AMC Networks said O’Connell will participate in the company’s upcoming quarterly earnings call and remain in his position until at least March.
O’Connell is leaving to “pursue an opportunity outside of the media industry,” a spokesperson for AMC Networks said, without providing additional information.
“On behalf of the Board and the entire company, I want to thank Patrick for his leadership, partnership, and meaningful contributions to AMC Networks,” Kristin Dolan, the CEO of AMC Networks, said in a statement. “He has been a trusted colleague and steady leader who’s played an important role supporting our strategic priorities and positioning our company for continued success.”
Dolan said the company fully supported O’Connell’s decision to take on a new opportunity outside the media industry.
“I am grateful to the Dolan family, the Board and the Company’s leadership team for their support,” said O’Connell. “It has been a privilege to work with such a talented organization. I am proud of what we accomplished together and am confident in the future of AMC Networks.”
O’Connell joined AMC Networks in 2022, at a time when the company was still embracing a strategy of delivering premium content over its traditional cable networks while tiptoeing into the streaming world with its own premium subscription offering and a collection of free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.
In recent months, O’Connell and other executives have grown more vocal about the growth opportunities offered by AMC’s streaming endeavors, given the sustained practice of “cord-cutting” that has chipped away at the traditional pay TV sector as more consumers find favor with flexible, lower-cost streaming options.
Before joining AMC Networks, O’Connell worked as the Chief Strategy Officer for Branded, a role he held for a little more than a year. Prior to his work at Branded, he was an Executive Vice President and the Head of Corporate Development at CBS Corporation before the company merged its operations with Viacom to form present-day Paramount.
His longest tenure with a company occurred at Goldman Sachs, where he became the Managing Director of Investment Banking for the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sectors. He left Goldman Sachs to join CBS in 2017.
