Crown Media Holdings Inc. said on Wednesday that it has appointed Henry Schleiff as president and chief executive of the media company.

Schleiff is set to joint immediately and will work out of the company’s New York offices.

Schleiff served as chairman and chief executive of Court TV for the past six years, helping creates one of the most successful cable networks in the industry. The subscription base almost tripled and the network become one of the leaders in prime time cable ratings, before eventually being sold to Time Warner earlier this year.

Shares in the Studio City-based owner and operator of the Hallmark Channel among other stations were up 5 cents to $4.32 in early trading Wednesday.