Cablefax The Magazine - June 2013 - 21

28 | TOPS WITH TOTS
Gary Marsh
Title: President/Chief Creative
Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide
(pictured below, upper)
Number of Years in Cable: 25
Education: UCLA
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less:
Say what you mean; mean what
you say.
Ben Pyne
Title: President, Global Distribution,
The Walt Disney Company
(pictured below, lower, 2nd from left)
Number of Years in Cable: 21
Education: BA, Princeton; MBA,
Harvard Business School
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less:
Do the right thing.
Albert Cheng
Title: EVP/Chief Product Officer, Digital
Media, Disney ABC Television Group
(pictured, top right)
Number of Years in Cable: 14
Education: MBA, Harvard University;
SB, M.I.T.
Best Advice in 7 Words or
Less: Find your passion; play your
strengths.
Why Them? Never have kids'
love for Disney been more evident
than this past year. Disney Channel
recently celebrated its 100th week
as the No. 1 network for kids 6-11
and tweens 9-14, a lofty milestone
in a notoriously competitive market.
Under Marsh's lead, the channel also
wrested away Nickelodeon's record
17-year claim over the coveted 2-11
kids sub-audience. Those impressive
stats are likely to continue as
Pyne extends Disney's reach among
youngsters with the launch of ABC
Spark and expanded VOD deals.
Pyne's also building on Cheng's recently
released WATCH Disney apps,
which garnered 13 million downloads
in nine months. Needless to say, the
CableFAX: The Magazine
June 2013
sum of these leaders' efforts has
worked magic for Disney. When each
finds time to get away from it all,
Pyne heads to sunny Santa Barbara,
Marsh goes to Alisal Ranch, and
Cheng heads to hometown Honolulu.
Marsh
Apple or Samsung? Old School-
Blackberry
Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Beatles
The one thing I'd do differently if
I could go back to high school:
Ask out Sherry B.
Favorite decade? Always the
current one.
I consider this person my mentor,
and here's why: Director John
Rich-He taught me that " good
enough " ... isn't.
The movie that should never be
remade? The Godfather
The best piece of business
advice I've gotten this year: If it
hurts, stop doing it.
Celebrity, sports figure or
politician I'd most want to have
I watch the majority of programming
on this device: Television
Favorite business and/or motivational
book? True North
Favorite vacation spot?
Santa Barbara
The biggest innovation in cable
over the last year: Launch of
WATCH apps.
Cheng
Apple or Samsung? Apple
Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Beatles
dinner with? Jon Stewart
Celebrity, sports figure or politician
I'd most NOT want to have
dinner with? Michelle Bachman
The biggest lesson I learned
from my kid(s) this year was...
today matters more than tomorrow.
Favorite vacation spot? Alisal Ranch
Pyne
On a Saturday afternoon, you
can find me... golfing.
Favorite airport? Singapore
The one thing I'd do differently if
I could go back to high school:
Avoid " Miami Vice " -inspired outfits.
My peers would be surprised
to learn that I... was an amateur
songwriter.
Appetizer or dessert? Appetizer
Film fest or music festival?
Film fest
The other subject I wish I'd
picked for my college major:
Applied Math
Favorite decade? This one
I consider this person my mentor,
and here's why: My Dad, because
there is no one else like him.
Favorite airport? Seoul, Korea
I watch the majority of programming
on this device: TV (surprise!),
close second is the iPad.
My favorite Cable Show
memory: Martha Quinn, MTV VJ
Netflix or Hulu? Amazon
If I could tell my 21-year-old
self something today, it would
be... you should have kept coding
to create a mega consumer Internet
company valued at $100B.
The day we get multiplatform
measurement is the day I... say
that we, as a human species, have
truly learned patience.
I wish Congress would just... be
comprised of at least 50% women,
and we'd have a government that
actually gets something done.
Favorite vacation spot? My
hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii ■
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