Cablefax The Magazine - April 2014 - 40

67 | Discovery Zone
Eric Phillips
Title: President, Domestic Distribution, Discovery Communications
Years in Cable: 12
Education: BA, Oberlin College; JD, University of Michigan
Best Advice: Support your team.
Phillips was directly responsible for Discovery's Velocity network becoming
the second fastest-growing cable channel in 2013, and he's made a slew
of other deals in the past year to ensure continued growth for the entire
Discovery portfolio. His leadership during the Time Warner Cable negotiations
paved the way for an agreement marking Discovery's first TVE deal,
and he bit into it with distributors including TWC, Comcast, DirecTV and
Cox to leverage Shark Week mania to great success. Best of all, this
former college baseball player is all about a supportive work environment.
I watch the majority of programming on this device: TV set
Favorite Restaurant: The Greens (San Francisco)
68 | Presidential Address
Marjorie Kaplan
Title: Group President, TLC and Animal Planet
Years in Cable: 17
Education: Major in Semiotics, Brown University
Best Advice: Women live a long time.
Eileen O'Neill
Title: Group President,
Discovery Channel, Science
Channel and Velocity
Years in Cable: 24
Education: BA, Communications,
Notre Dame; MA,
Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University
Henry S. Schleiff
Title: Group President,
Investigation Discovery,
American Heroes Channel,
Destination America and
Discovery Fit & Health
Years in Cable: All of them
(more than 30 years)
Education: BA, University of Pennsylvania; JD,
the University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Animal Planet continues its wild ratings under
Kaplan's watch, last year outperforming its
record-breaking 2012 by achieving its mostwatched
year ever in both prime and total
day across major demos. And digi net Animal
Planet L!VE is extending the reach even further.
Let's not forget the Puppy Bowl, which cel40
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Favorite
vacation spot: Hilton Head
Beach or mountains? City
My favorite business/motivational book: Mr. Hendricks' book, A Curious
Discovery ■
ebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Kaplan
and O'Neill will have plenty on their plate next
month when Discovery and TLC begin offering
Spanish-Language secondary audio programming
(SAP) for a selection of series. O'Neill
will continue to drive viewers with innovative
content geared to her nets' specific audiences,
like the Skywire event and Shark Week on Discovery.
Schleiff, meanwhile, has become the
Go-To Guy at Discovery Communications. With
65 series that have delivered a 1.0 or higher
rating, he now oversees one of the largest content
slates in cable-and that's just on ID. His
bold renaming of Military Channel to American
Heroes Channel has so far repositioned the net
for significant growth, and we can only imagine
what he has in store for Discovery Fit & Health.
As for Schleiff's claim to Discovery fame with
ID, look for continued programming innovation,
and an expanded Inspire a Difference public
service initiative and dedicated ID Films that
contain a social message.
Kaplan
I watch mostly on: Still, on my television
TV show I'd most like to have a cameo in:
Not " Girls " !
John, Paul, George or Ringo? Joni Mitchell
Twitter or Instagram? Instagram
Favorite Restaurant: Meals by Genet in LA
Favorite vacation spot: Amagansett
Beach or mountains? Beach!
Schleiff
One thing I would do all the time if I could:
April 2014
Watch my networks, of course.
My favorite newfound hobby: Bad golf (favorite
old hobby was good golf).
Favorite business or motivational book: William
Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade...
to paraphrase his quintessential quote " No one
knows anything about this business. "
Twitter or Instagram: New York Post
Favorite Cable Show memory: Trying to get
Sumner Redstone out of his villa by throwing
pebbles across the gate at the glass wall-
which, unfortunately, set off the sprinkler
system after he joined us, flooding his villa as
we later discovered. I don't think he ever knew
who did it-until, perhaps, now.
Favorite Restaurant: Michael's
Favorite Vacation spot: Silver Spring, Md.-or
Round Hill, Jamaica and Deer Valley, Utah ■
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Cablefax The Magazine - April 2014

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