Cablefax The Magazine - December 2021 - 12

Most Powerful Women
the
Tara
Duncan
President
Freeform
Former Netflix
exec Duncan has
been overseeing brand development,
content strategy and original programming
at Freeform since she joined last
May. She recently spearheaded and added
oversight of Onyx Collective, the new
Hulu content brand designed to curate an
entertainment slate by creators of color
and underrepresented voices. Under its
all-Black female-led leadership team,
the banner's first acquisition was Ahmir
" Questlove " Thompson's directorial debut
" Summer of Soul...(Or When the Revolution
Could Not Be Televised). " Duncan has
this advice for those returning to work
after a hiatus: " Move at your own pace
and remember the lessons you discovered
on your time off. "
Channing
Dungey
Chairman
Warner Bros.
Television Group
Well-regarded TV
leader Dungey began her role at Warner
Media in January and didn't waste any
time. As of October, the Warner Bros.
Television and Warner Bros. Unscripted
Television divisions combined are
producing more than 100 total series for
streaming and cable partners, as well as
the broadcast networks and local stations.
Her wins include series orders for Warner
Bros. Television's first-ever scripted show
at Peacock (straight-to-series order for
" Mrs. Davis " ) and Starz ( " Shining Vale " )
as well as HBO Max's series order of
comedy " Head of the Class. " She'd give
the industry a C+ in terms of gender bias
in TV shows. " The damsel in distress is a
trope that has been really hard to eliminate.
The plus in C+ indicates, for me,
that there's a desire in many parts of the
industry to do better, but we have a long
way to go, " she says.
Teresa
Elder
CEO
WOW! Internet,
Cable & Phone
After overcoming
COVID in early
2020, Elder returned to her role more
committed and with more gusto than ever
before, orchestrating sales of specific
WOW! markets to reduce debt and identify
ways to more aggressively pursue investments
in the company's network. Through
her careful deliberations with the board of
directors at WOW!, the decision was made
to sell five of the company's service areas
in two separate transactions totaling $1.8
billion. Under Elder's guidance, WOW!
this year " took a clear-eyed audit of our
diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting
and hiring practices, " she says, which
resulted in partnering with an organization
to improve recruitment and hiring, and
redesigning its Careers web page.
Katherine
Gessner
President
MCTV
Gessner was
raised on cable,
and she's dedicated her life's work to
ensuring any customer that wants connectivity
has a way to get it. MCTV is
small but mighty, recently making moves
to cross the Ohio River and expand into
Ohio County, West Virginia. There's still
a long way to go in ensuring women are
shown on screen with the same level of
complexity and range as those given to
men, but she believes there has been a
marked improvement. " Most of the shows
I remember growing up portrayed women
as either homemakers or in traditional
female roles-secretary, teacher, nurse.
That's changed so that you now see
women in many different types of roles
and with more powerful personalities, "
she says.
Andrea
Greenberg
President & CEO
MSG Networks
While some may
be questioning the
RSN business model these days, Greenberg
has a clear direction of where MSG
Networks is headed. She navigated a
challenging year, bringing back live sports,
adding new programs, pushing further
into wagering and re-merging with MSG
Entertainment in July. Under her guidance,
MSG scored a multiyear renewal
with Verizon Fios-a key victory given the
telco's strong sub numbers in its footprint.
Greenberg's busy year also included
the launch of the company's predictive
gaming app " MSG Networks Pick 'Em, "
making MSG Networks the first RSN to
debut a standalone app for free-to-play
pick 'em-style contests. For a book on
female empowerment, she says you can't
go wrong betting on any book on the life
of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Pearlena
Igbokwe
Chairman
Universal Studios
Group
A 30-year industry
veteran, Nigerian-born Igbokwe rose to
the helm of Universal Studios Group last
year and became the first Black woman
to run a major TV studio. With four studios
under her purview-UTV, UCP, UTAS
and NBCU International Studios-she
oversees both a sizable global staff and
the production of more than 2,500 hours
of programming across distribution channels.
Igbokwe's career trajectory has more
than prepared her for the job. Most recently,
from June 2016-September 2020,
she served as president of Universal
Television, where she led the division to
new heights with record volume, commercial
success and critical acclaim.
12
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