Who knew when Inside.com’s bubble popped it would lead to a hot cable career for co-founder Michael Hirschorn? (Rafat and I worked for Hirschorn at Inside.) He joined VH1 in 2001, took charge of programming in 2006 and has been credited with giving the network a personality that distinguished it from MTV and made it one of the fastest-growing cable nets. Now he may be on the verge of leaving Viacom (NYSE: VIA), the NY Post reports—the paper says it would be “a devastating loss.” The leading possibility: the UK’s Ricochet, although he reportedly has been in talks with a number of networks. Viacom also could make a counteroffer.

This (over-the-top) phrase from the NYP explains Hirschorn’s value across VH1’s platforms—“the Midas touch when it comes to making programming choices that tap into the pop culture zeitgeist.” Those choices also translate well online and encourage mobile use.

Update: The official word is out and it looks like a compromise. Hirschorn leaves to start his own production company—Ish Entertainment—with Stella Stolper, leaving as SVP-celebrity talent development at VH1, but has a first-look deal with Brian Graden’s MTV Networks Music and Logo Group. Ish, which will based in NYC and LA, launches with three greenlit series.

VH1 changes: As a result, VH1 announced a series of changes at the same time. Jeff Olde has been promoted to EVP-original programming and production. More details in the release.