Cablefax The Magazine - December 2011 - 31

42 | ON THE BALL
Randy Freer
Title: Co-President/COO, Fox
Sports Media Group (pictured, top)
Years in Cable: 14
Education: BA, business and history,
St. Joseph's College
Eric Shanks
Title: Co-President/COO, Fox
Sports Media Group
(pictured, bottom)
Years in Cable: 17
Why Them? Freer and Shanks
oversee Fox Sports, Fox's 19
43 | SPORTS, KIDS
AND CONTENT
David Levy
Title: President, Sales, Distribution & Sports,
Turner Broadcasting System
(middle picture, right)
Years In Cable: 25
Education: BA, Syracuse University
Best Advice: Treat people the way you want to
be treated.
Stuart Snyder
Title: President/COO, Animation, Young Adults
& Kids Media, Turner (top picture, right)
Years in Cable: 5
Education: BA, accounting/marketing management,
Binghamton University
Best Advice: Bring passion to your game-
aim big!
Michael Wright
Title: EVP/Head of Programming, Turner Broadcasting
System's TNT/TBS/TCM
(bottom picture, right)
Why Them? Levy has been instrumental in Turner's
brand building by negotiating rights to high-profile
sports events, raising awareness and generating
record-breaking ratings for TNT, TBS and truTV. And
his landmark multimedia deal with CBS for TV, Internet,
wireless, marketing and corporate sponsorship
CableFAX: The Magazine
regional sports networks-which
collectively televise more than half
of all MLB, NBA and NHL teams-
and all digital ventures. Which
means they sit atop the largest
cog in one of the industry's most
coveted-and contentious-empires.
We're guessing News Corp's
recent stalemate with DirecTV
must have struck a particular
chord with Shanks, who previously
served as EVP of DirecTV
Entertainment. Both execs not only
demonstrate a strong negotiating
arm, but their programming talents
have elevated the look, sound and
editorial content of all Fox Sports'
rights to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship
was a slam-dunk by all counts. Meanwhile, Snyder's
charge of Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult
Swim remains wildly animated. Last December, the
latter net revved its engines by airing an hour earlier,
9 p.m.-6 a.m.; and in February aired sports Hall of
Game Awards, hosted by Tony Hawk-scoring 1.4
million viewers and 37 million online votes for fave
athletes. Snyder has announced an ambitious slate
of 14 new Cartoon series, and named Shaquille
O'Neal as host for the second Hall of Game in early
2012. Wright's worked closely with Steven Spielberg
and DreamWorks in creating sci-fi series " Falling
Skies, " which finished its first season as basic cable's
No. 1 new series for the year-to-date. For TCM, he
helped create 2011 seven-part series " Moguls &
Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, " nominated for
three Emmys.
David Levy
Favorite restaurant: Rao's, New York
Guilty TV pleasure: " Children's Hospital " on
Adult Swim
If I invented my own app, it would be: An
instant handicap lookup for a foursome.
Stuart Snyder
This incident from my youth taught me an important
lesson: An accident took the life of a good
friend when I was 18. It really highlighted for me how
short life can be. Yes, everyday crap does happen,
but don't let it get to you. See the glass half full. And
keep those birthdays coming; don't begrudge getting
older. Life is a gift and we should make it count. ◆
December 2011
cablefaxmag.com
31
studio and game broadcasts, an
important marker as streaming of
games becomes more prevalent.
Additionally, Speed, Fox Soccer,
Fuel TV also come under Freer and
Shanks' purview.
All Aglow: When Shanks initially
joined Fox Sports in 1994, he
helped develop the FOXTrax " glowing
puck " for NHL coverage and
the yellow first down line that's a
staple of today's televised football.
Year Ahead:
Fox this year began
wading into the next frontier for local
sports-high school games. How
much deeper will it go? ◆
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