TV Exec Liz Gateley Joins Spotify As New Creative Development Head, Will Lead Expansion Into More Podcast Genres

Veteran TV exec Liz Gateley has joined Spotify to help broaden its podcast horizons.

Gateley, who previously headed up programming for Lifetime, is now Spotify’s new head of creative development, where she’ll manage original development teams in New York and Los Angeles. In an update on her LinkedIn profile, Gateley said she’ll be guiding the teams as they expand into developing comedy, sports, news, documentaries, young adult, and scripted podcasts, as well as adding more music podcast formats.

“I am excited to be back in the music/culture world to tell loud stories with my incredible team and to help invent new executions as I always have,” she wrote, “but, most importantly, to join at such a transformative time at Spotify on the heels of the Gimlet and Anchor acquisitions.”

Spotify acquired Gimlet Media (one of the largest production studios in the podcast space) and Anchor

(a distribution platform that lets anyone publish and monetize their own podcasts) last month for a reported $340 million total. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Spotify has already taken over distributing big-name podcasts, like actress and comedian Amy Schumer’s 3 Girls, 1 Keith, as a result of the acquisitions.

Prior to joining Spotify, Gateley led a scripted programming expansion for Lifetime. At the network, she oversaw the development of stalker series You, which later became a hit on Netflix, with 40 million member households watching it in just its first month on the service.

In her new position at Spotify, Gateley will reunite with Dawn Ostroff, who worked with her at Lifetime and is now Spotify’s content chief. She’ll also work again Courtney Holt, who was Gateley’s colleague at MTV and is now Spotify’s head of studios and video.