Cablefax The Magazine - April 2014 - 38

61 | An Integrated Approach
Linda Yaccarino
Title: President, Ad Sales, NBCUniversal
Years in Cable: 17
Education: BA, Telecommunications, Penn State
Yaccarino is all about integration at
NBCU. In a big reshuffle in October,
the ad sales division combined
broadcast and cable assets under
four content areas: Entertainment,
Live Programming, Lifestyle and
Digital Video. All four division heads
report to Yaccarino, who has made
it her mission to breakdown silos at the company.
She's also pushed for creativity in ad sales, and we've
seen some of the breakthroughs such as Ford's
" Tonight Show " stunt. It featured Ford consultants
competing to sell Jimmy Fallon a new Ford F-150 by
keeping their hands on the truck. Last man standing
wins. " This is another example of how we're teaming
with our advertising partners to make content that our
audiences genuinely enjoy, " Yaccarino said. ■
63 | Producing Hits
Beth Roberts
Title: EVP, Business Operations, NBCUniversal Cable
Entertainment & COO, Universal Cable Productions
Education: Vassar College; Boston University School of Law
Years in Cable: 10
Best Advice: Work hard but live life.
Roberts' main focus is harnessing the power of
NBCU's 11 networks, Universal Cable Productions
(UCP) and Wilshire Studies, which together generate
billions in revenue. As COO of UCP, she helps oversee
the strategic and financial growth, and day-to-day operations
of the full-service studio behind several series for
USA and Syfy. Her push for strategic innovations in content
creation led to the establishment of a digital studio for
original programs and no doubt some exciting new
content to come from it.
I watch the majority of programming on this device:
Television
The biggest innovation in cable over the last year:
Full season banking
The technology that will most benefit cable over the
next year is: Fast-forward disable.
The day we get multiplatform measurement is the
day I.... approve increasing production budgets.
Twitter or Instagram? Instagram... a picture tells
1,000 characters. ■
38
cablefaxmag.com
April 2014
Cablefax: The Magazine
62 | Upfront & Center
Joe Abruzzese
Title: President, Advertising Sales,
Discovery Communications
Years in Cable: 11
Education: Seton Hall University
Best Advice: Be true to yourself, follow
your instincts.
After more than a dozen years at Discovery,
advertisers continue to be sold on Abruzzese.
Charismatic, confident and capable, he
continually reinvents the company's sales plan
across U.S. markets, winning business with
innovative strategies-not to mention one
heck of a portfolio to sell. The plan of splitting
his sales force into two divisions under
Scott Felenstein and Sharon O'Sullivan has
been delivering big, resulting in higher dollar
volumes for some of the company's emerging
networks. The big question now is whether
he'll stay on or retire now that the contract he
renewed in 2012 is winding down. Discovery
chief David Zaslav has made no secret of
his wish to keep Abruzzese as long as he
can. Zaslav just re-upped for the rest of the
decade. Will Abruzzese do the same?
TV show I'd most like to have a cameo
in? " Mad Men "
John, Paul, George or Ringo? Mick Jagger
Oscars or Grammys? Oscars
Favorite Restaurant: Valbella
Desert island album? Dr. John
The last time I had a good laugh: Last time
I was with Keith Turner. ■
64 | Hunger
Games
Brooke Johnson
Title: President, Food Network
and Cooking Channel, Scripps
Networks Interactive
Education: BA and MA,
Northwestern University
Best Advice: Work hard; give
other people credit.
Outside of dishing up quality
cook-along programming,
Johnson has leveraged her
position to benefit those in need.
A strong partner of Share Our
Strength, the two joined forces to
produce " Hunger Hits Home, " an
award-winning documentary that
shed light on childhood hunger
in America and raised funds to
help the hungry.
Oscars or Grammys? Grammys
Favorite Restaurant: Masa in
NYC for sushi
Favorite vacation spot:
Costa Rica
Beach or mountains? Beach ■
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