Keith Cox

The TV Land chief has a rarity in today’s cable — rising ratings and buzz — as he reveals how many times Darren Star passed before bringing Younger to the network, what it takes to age down an audience and the end result of a Viacom-CBS deal

- Lesley Goldberg

Two years ago, Keith Cox made a decision that helped TV Land shed its image as mostly a destination for classic sitcom reruns: He bought Darren Star’s Younger, a racy comedy starring Sutton Foster that would become the network’s first move in rebranding toward edgier fare. Its third season premiered Sept. 28 and is up 11 percent year-over-year among adults 25-to-54.

Cox, 52, has ushered in an era where the Viacom-owned network’s lineup of multicamera shows including Betty White’s Hot in Cleveland and Fran Drescher’s Happily Divorced have been jettisoned in favor of single camera programs like the Michael Rosenbaum comedy Impastor as well as Teachers and Lopez. The overhaul helped Cox grow TV Land’s viewership by an impressive 18 percent during the past quarter at a time when most cable nets are losing audience, with new series Nobodies (from Melissa McCarthy) and Throwing Shade (based on the popular podcast) due in 2017. The network also has three buzzy pilots, including a reboot of the cult hit Heathers.

Cox, a Kentucky native who has worked at TV Land for a decade, says the transformation has only begun, and he’s eyeing an expansion into drama. “We are doing really well with 18-to-49, and that’s new,” says Cox, who has lowered TV Land’s median viewer age from 58 to 46. “We never set out to say we want millennials, but that has been the silver lining.” The avid Snow boarders and travel buff invited THR to his Studio City office to talk about the mood at Viacom and the biggest misconception about a network known for syndicated repeats.

Your owner has been in the news a lot. Would a merged Viacom and CBS be more valuable?