Cablefax The Magazine - December 2010 - 37

58| Eileen O'Neill
AUNT SARAH
Title: President/GM, TLC
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BA, Notre Dame; MA, Bowling
Green
I Watch TV Mostly: TiVo/Recorded
Why Her? The likeable Discovery veteran-
she began as an intern-continued her
success with Jon & Kate Plus 8, American
Chopper and What Not to Wear. Jon &
Kate rode the wave of celebrity gossip to a
whopping 10.6mln viewers in June, a record
for the show and TLC. Polygamous Sister
Wives also pierced the pop culture consciousness.
Tea
Time? We don't think O'Neill is going
political, but she's counting on the Tea Party
to draw viewers to reality series Sarah Palin's
Alaska. Early ratings are through the roof, but
will Mama Grizzly's numbers last?
Year Ahead: TLC continues to churn out
the hits.
Biggest Threat to Cable's Survival: Bad
programming
What Should Cable Do to Improve its Image?
Give a month of cable free of charge to
subscribers of three years.
Most Creative Part of My Job: Pranking
Clark Bunting
Motto: No guts no glory
Best Biz Book: Good to Great
Best Biz Advice: Stay wood (from Pinocchio)
Most Underrated Drink: Milk
Favorite Cities for Business: Wherever
my team is, usually Silver Spring, LA, Atlanta
or NY.
59|
THE CHEF
Brooke Johnson
Title: Pres, Food Network/Food
Category Team Leader (far left)
Number of Years in Cable:17
Education: BA, Northwestern; MSJ,
Medill School of Journalism
I Watch TV Mostly: Live
Why Her? In a sign of how vital
Johnson's role is in the Scripps
portfolio, late this year she was
elevated from President of Food
Network to also oversee the entire
food category,
which includes The
Cooking Channel
and various online
extensions. Her
industry profile rose
when WICT named
her its '10 Woman
of the Year.
Dessert: The audience
for Cook60|
JAMMIN'
OUT FRONT
Bob Wilson
Title: SVP, Programming, Cox
Communications
Years in Cable: 31
Education: BS, Lehigh; MBA,
Georgia State
I Watch TV Mostly: Live
Why Him? Even
though Wilson's
Cox band keeps
beating ours at
The Cable Show's
Battle of the
Bands, we're still
obligated to list him here. Not only
does he wield tremendous power
in the industry, he also has done
some pretty innovative things this
year. Cox became the first cable
operator to launch In Demand's HD
VOD movie service Vutopia, which
includes an online component with
hundreds of titles. In a similar vein,
CableFAX: The Magazine
December 2010
ing Channel is up 100% in total
day viewing over last year when it
was Fine Living.
The Year Ahead: Like a good
soufflé, ratings will keep rising at
Scripps' food properties. In Q3
Food's reached an all-time high.
On Your iPad: Food Network In the
Kitchen app, NY Times app, Texas
Hold 'Em
3DTV is: Unlikely to happen broadly
anytime soon
Best Biz Book: Built to Last
Cox stepped up as the first cable
op to sign with Epix and its online
library. Wilson seems pretty serious
about anytime, anywhere.
Fox in a Box on Cox: Wilson continued
to expand Cox's My Primetime
VOD lineup, including adding
this year Fox Broadcast content-a
VOD first for the network.
The Year Ahead:
Operator and
programmer negotiations are getting
tougher and tougher.
On Your iPad: Dust-haven't yet
found the killer app to abandon Kindle
for my newspaper and book reading.
3DTV Is: 1/5 consumer demand,
4/5 CE hype
Biggest Threat to Cable's Survival:
Regulatory interference that prevents
ISPs from pricing HSI service commensurate
with value and use.
On Foursquare I Want to be
Mayor of: I'll get back to you
after I ask my daughters what
Foursquare is.
cablefaxmag.com
37
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Cablefax The Magazine - December 2010

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