Longtime TV distributor, programmer, producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Gary Lico has announced his retirement by June 2023.
Lico’s 50-year career spanned from U.S. syndication and cable distribution (Sony Pictures Television) to research and programming (Katz Media), to hosting and producing a successful daytime talk show (A New Day, WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee), as well as several programs such as Intersections, 7 Days Left, Monster Quest, and the recent Forensic Files tribute special.
Lico is perhaps most well-known for CABLEready, a company he founded in 1992 and helped create and/or distribute hundreds of programs, including popular true crime series Forensic Files, which remains in production after 26 years and has been sold to more than 150 countries.
In 2013 Lico founded GARYLICO.TV, which holds exclusive worldwide distribution rights to Forensic Files. Lico will continue to distribute the series until the rights transition to a new global distribution partner, a search currently underway.
Reflecting on his career and decision, Gary Lico stated: “I knew it was time when I no longer recognized half the names in the trades. This business is too big and fast-moving for a one guy to handle. It’s time Forensic Files was in bigger hands. Now, the search for and transition to the next distributor begins. Then, maybe I can finally figure out which channels, delivery systems, platforms, services, providers, and cell plans I need. And there are millions of kids to see in my other life as Santa Claus. I want to enjoy what modicum of youth I still have left in me.”
Lico will be in Cannes at MIPCOM next week.
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