Former Legendary Digital and Nerdist Industries production chief Seth Laderman has been named EVP and GM of the Comic-Con International subscription video-on-demand service that Lionsgate will co-operate with Comic-Con International. The channel was unveiled in April without details on costs or when it will go live: This morning, Lionsgate says it now is prepping for a first-quarter 2016 bow.

Laderman will be charged with programming the service, which will include original shortform content created exclusively for subscribers, films and TV series from Lionsgate and other studios geared toward the Comic-Con demo and exclusive archived footage from Comic-Con’s history. The idea is to extend Comic-Con’s footprint beyond the big splash it makes in San Diego each July.

“We intend to differentiate our service through the depth and diversity of its content, the quality of its curation and the joys of discovering its rich mix of programming,” Jim Packer, Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television & Digital Distribution, said in a release.

Laderman helped vault Nerdist Industries from its start as Chris Hardwick’s start-up podcast and website into a global distribution platform with more 20 million monthly active users. The exec oversaw the Nerdist Podcast Network encompassing more than 30 podcasts with programming seven nights a week and was an exec producer on several web-to-TV series including All Star Celebrity Bowling on AMC, Nerdist News on Syfy, Justin Willman’s Magic Meltdown on Comedy Central and The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Live Show on BBC America. He then was SVP at Legendary Digital Networks after it acquired Nerdist.