Tony Tackaberry Quits As CEO Of ‘Cash Cab’ Producer Lion US After 17 Years

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Tackaberry, the long-serving chief executive of Cash Cab and Sexy Beasts producer Lion US, is stepping down to launch a new venture in the coming months.

Staff at Lion Television were told about Tackaberry’s departure on Monday. He will exit at the end of the month, marking the end of a 17-year tenure at the company, which is based in New York.

More from Deadline

Tackaberry is yet to pull the curtain back on his new venture, but said he was excited about the future. His Lion US duties will be taken on by Allison Corn, senior vice president of production and development, and Stan Hsue, senior vice president of development.

Discovery has broadcast nearly 500 episodes of Cash Cab since its launch in 2005, while the game show has won three Emmy awards. Other highlights include PBS series History Detectives and Nat Geo Wild’s World’s Deadliest.

Lion US also adapted BBC Three’s high-concept dating show Sexy Beasts for A&E in 2015. Deadline revealed earlier this month that Lion Television is currently making a supercharged version of the show for Netflix.

Nick Catliff, chief content officer at Lion Television UK, said: “Tony joined Lion 17 years ago as the launch series producer of History Detectives when Lion US was just a start-up. He steered that first show brilliantly through its 10 year run on PBS and, since then, he has taken the leading role in the many successes of Lion USA not least the multi-Emmy winning Cash Cab.

“Tony has been a great friend and colleague and he leaves our U.S. business in very good health with a strong slate of new productions and in the very capable hands of Allison and Stan. We wish him well in the future.”

Tackaberry added: “I’m eternally grateful to Nick, Richard [Bradley] and everyone at Lion for giving me the chance to lead Lion US for what’s been an amazing run. While I’ll miss so many great colleagues, I’m really proud that I’m leaving the company in great shape and more than capable hands – Stan and Allison are wonderful friends and brilliant executives. I’m genuinely excited about the future and look forward to sharing more soon.”

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.