-By Anthony Crupi

Just a year after taking the reins as president and general manager of TLC, a move which was predicated on Discovery Communications’ relocating the network from Silver Spring, Maryland to Los Angeles, Angela Shapiro-Mathes has been let go, effective today.

Stepping up to fill the vacancy is 17-year Discovery veteran Eileen O’Neill, who most recently presided over the launch of the eco-centric network Planet Green.

O’Neill will continue to be based in Silver Spring, home to Discovery’s global headquarters. As such, elements of the TLC apparatus are expected to return to Maryland.

Further information about the network’s near-term prospects were not forthcoming.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav thanked Shapiro-Mathes for her “hard work, leadership and passion,” adding that her legacy would be the diversification of TLC’s programming mix, along with her role in raising the network’s profile in the L.A. development community.

O’Neill most recently served as president and general manager of Planet Green, which she developed from soup-to-nuts in less than 12 months. The net launched on June 4 of this year.

“With massive reach, brand awareness and a foothold in popular programming genres including lifestyle, fashion, real estate and families, TLC is well positioned for the future,” said Zaslav. “Eileen is a proven cable programmer, and has guided one of the most successful network introductions in Planet Green. Her exceptional reputation and understanding of TLC’s passionate audience makes Eileen the perfect executive to lead TLC.”

As the skipper of Discovery Health, O’Neill developed what would become one of TLC’s franchise programs, the half-hour unscripted series Jon & Kate Plus 8. At the start of its third season, the show moved from Discovery Health to TLC in January.

While Discovery determines the next step for Planet Green, Clark Bunting, president of the company’s emerging networks group, will fill in as interim chief of the startup.

Last March, in what was her first major interview after assuming the helm at TLC, Shapiro-Mathes said that Zaslav offered to move TLC to Los Angeles in order to accommodate her desire to stay out West. “I actually had no idea where the company was headquartered before I spoke with David,” she said. “To his enduring credit, he told me that if I took the job, he'd move the channel from Silver Spring to L.A…And that was it. If anything could underscore that this was a guy who would go to bat for you, that was it.”

While TLC continued to get traction on Monday nights with its family-friendly strips Little People, Big World and Jon & Kate, overall, the network was unable to move the ratings needle during Shapiro-Mathes’ tenure. In the second quarter, TLC was off 10 percent in prime time, averaging 846,000 total viewers. The network was also down 14 percent among adults 25-54 and 11 percent among viewers 18-49.

Of course, the recent ratings slide was just one factor in Shapiro-Mathes’ ouster. Shortly after Discovery’s New York upfront presentation on April 23, word began circulating that the TLC chief was not meshing well with the East Coast power structure.

As speculation about Shapiro-Mathes’ future at TLC began to build, TLC senior vp of programming Brant Pinvidic slipped out the door in May, just 10 months joining the network.

Shapiro-Mathes officially began her stewardship of TLC back in July 2007, shortly after the departure of David Abraham, who decided to return to his native U.K. after a two-year stint at the Discovery property. She previously served as president of Fox Television Studios. Before that, she had been president of ABC Family (2002-03).

In what was to be her last public appearance as the head of TLC, on July 10 Shapiro-Mathes talked up the network’s new series, Hope For Your Home, at the Television Critics Association press tour.