Cablefax The Magazine - December 2011 - 50

79 | INDIETAINMENT
Byron Allen
Title: Founder/Chairman/CEO
Entertainment Studios Networks
(pictured below)
Years in Cable: 5
Education: USC Film School
Best Advice: Get out of your way!
Janice Arouh
Title: President, Distribution/Marketing,
Entertainment Studios Networks
(pictured right)
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BA Communications,
John Carroll University
Best Advice: Be prepared... Give
your best, your very best.
Why Them: With production, distribution
and advertising sales for 30 TV series
on seven networks, Entertainment
Studios is the nation's largest independent
producer/distributor of first-run
syndicated broadcast programming.
Allen and Arouh are digging deep to
monetize the company's 4,000-plus
hours of library content and 30 shows
in first-run syndication serving 1,500
TV stations nationwide. A year after
joining Entertainment Studios Networks
and its suite of seven indie networks,
former Hallmark exec Arouh secured a
multiyear carriage extension deal with
Verizon, multimillion-dollar content deal
80 | THE GOOD SPORT
John Kosner
Title: SVP/GM, Digital & Print
Media, ESPN
Years in Cable: 15
Education: BA, Stanford
Best Advice: Think and act aggressively
but be humble.
Why Him? ESPN continues its sports
dominance across platforms. In May
Kosner added oversight of ESPN's
81 | AUTHENTICATE IT!
Michael Biard
Title: EVP, Distribution, Fox Networks
Years in Cable: 12-plus
Education: BA, Columbia; JD, Loyola
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Work hard,
play hard & sleep well.
Why Him? A longtime Fox veteran who has played
key roles in landmark distribution deals, Biard has
43 networks under his watch-all of Fox's domestic
programming. He's been a key distribution executive
50
cablefaxmag.com
print business, a strategic move
aimed to leverage the network's multiplatform
approach. Last year, ESPN
Digital Media logged its most-trafficked
year to date, with more eyes
on ESPN.com than any other sports
Web site. And get this: Beyond sports,
ESPN.com has the fifth-largest audience
of men 18-34 across the entire
Internet, behind Google, Facebook,
Yahoo and Microsoft.
Year Ahead:
As he continues to
show host. Obviously, Allen doesn't
have to pretend anymore.
Property Junkie: Arouh is a huge
fan of real estate and a shameless
reader of The Real Estalker (realestalker.blogspot.com),
a tell-all blog
about celebrity real estate trading.
with Netflix and international distribution
deal for the company throughout
82 countries in the Middle East and
Africa. Who has time for lunch?
Role Playing: While Allen is as
heralded a comedian as he is an entrepreneur-hosting
" Entertainers With
Byron Allen " and " Comics Unleashed
With Byron Allen " on his Comedy.
TV-it's pretty cool that his show biz
ambitions began in childhood, when he
accompanied his publicist mother to
NBC studios in Burbank. He snuck into
" The Tonight Show " set and would sit
at Johnny Carson's desk, playing night
merge ESPN's digital and print products,
Kosner has new opportunities to
transform tried-and-true media.
Favorite meal I can also prepare:
Anything involving boiling water.
One topping that should never be
on a hot dog: Ketchup
Favorite restaurant: Loconda
Verde, New York
Favorite " going out " town: Paris
One thing I tell my kids about
success in life: Dream big.
Worst thing heard in a meeting:
at the company for several years and just this fall
added new responsibilities in advanced services.
He's working to push Fox's programming across both
linear and nonlinear platforms, including authentication
services on Fox.com, as well as Fox VOD.
Getting Schooled: As a youth, Biard spent summers
digging ditches and crawling under houses as a
plumber's assistant. " The lesson: school is easy. "
Year Ahead: Authentication and TV Everywherelike
services are key to future growth in cable.
That's why Biard is driving nonlinear platforms
and authentication services.
Personal theme song: Ring of Fire
December 2011
Byron Allen
Worst thing I've heard in a meeting:
" No. "
Best technique for deterring
time-wasting office visits from
co-workers: I ask them to give me
a ride to the airport; my flight's at 9.
Janice Arouh
Favorite restaurant: Chez Arouh
When I look at my cable set-top
box, I can't help but think: It will
be replaced by a connected TV and
I'll save $360 per year. ◆
" Playing devil's advocate... "
Acts I would see live: Bruce
Springsteen, R.E.M., Fleet Foxes
Favorite sports team: Phoenix
Suns ◆
Favorite vacation spot: Mammoth Lakes-any
time of year...
Guilty television pleasure: Motorcycle
racing-any type, any level.
What puzzles me most about Millennials: Why
are they so proud of their underwear? ◆
CableFAX: The Magazine
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Cablefax The Magazine - December 2011

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