Cablefax The Magazine - September 2016 - 18

THE LEADERS
51. Michael Smith
SVP & GM, Cooking Channel,
Scripps Networks Interactive
Under Smith's purview, Cooking
Channel already is showing signs it
will surpass its successes of 2015,
which was a banner year as the network's
most-watched, highest-rated,
and youngest-skewing year to date. So far in 2016, Cooking
Channel has already seen its highest-rated fi rst quarter, with
adult ratings growing 2 percent over 2015. Appropriately
enough, for the past few years Smith has served on the board
of Food Bank New York. " I truly admire their dedication and
commitment to fi lling the meal gap that leaves approximately
1.4 million New Yorkers-mainly women, children, seniors,
the working poor and people with disabilities-dependent on
soup kitchens and food pantries, " he says.
52. Ivan Bargueiras
EVP, Ad Sales, Discovery
Networks Latin America/
U.S. Hispanic
Bargueiras' well-earned promotion
to his current position proved to be
a win for both the company and its
Latin audience. Under his expanded
role, Discovery Networks Latin America/U.S. Hispanic already
has outpaced ad sales market projections in Brazil, Mexico,
Colombia and the Southern Cone. He also helped broker
a mutually benefi cial deal with one of the world's largest
digital publishers, Batanga Media. While he believes the cable
industry has made strides both in the U.S. and globally when
it comes to diversity, Bargueiras says there is always room
for improvement. He says " Grey's Anatomy " and " on a more
humoristic side, " " Brooklyn Nine-Nine " are shows that best
embrace diversity.
53. Janet Han Vissering
SVP, Development & Production,
Nat Geo Wild
Vissering just keeps topping her
prior year's accomplishments.
Premiering Nat Geo Wild's fi rst-ever
digital series " Wild Life With Bertie
Gregory " on YouTube and NationalGeographic.com
and working on the sweeping doc " Wild
Yellowstone " are just two of her recent achievements. Not to
mention the network continues exponential growth in its sixth
year on the air, with 2015 as its most-watched year ever. As
she continues to manage Wild's development and production
teams, look for Vissering to bring even more A-list talent to
the network's lineup and elevate staples such as the annual
Big Cat Week and Destination Wild special programs. Some
of her favorite programs embracing diversity are " How to Get
18
cablefaxmag.com
Away With Murder, " " Empire " and " Modern Family. " " These
shows cast across all races, genders and sexuality. It brings
the real makeup of the world to television, " she says.
54. Jessica Rodriguez
EVP & CMO,
Univision Communications
Rodriguez's passion for the Univision
brand fuels her efforts on all fronts.
Her input was pivotal in developing
and launching the " Todo Es Posible "
brand campaign, which spans
broadcast, digital, social media and experiential extension.
And in May, " Tu Gente, Tu Voz, " her local news branding campaign,
rolled out to emphasize Univision's connection with its
local media teams in 126 local TV and radio stations across
the country. Rodriguez also led a promotional deal to broadcast
two Netfl ix series, " Narcos " and " Club de Cuervos, " on
Univision. Given her love of all things Univision, her idea of a
personal election campaign slogan might not be surprising.
She says, " If I could be a little biased, I believe Univision's
marketing platform could serve as a great slogan 'United we
stand, together we grow'. "
55. Tamara Franklin
EVP, Digital,
Scripps Networks Interactive
Franklin's deft management of
overlapping priorities-content,
sales, technology, distribution and
marketing-ensure Scripps' digital
business remains profi table and
growing. Scripps Lifestyle Studios, launched in late 2015,
boosted Scripps' place in the social and mobile space, and
Franklin and her team are increasing the number of shortform
videos produced each month. " Any technology that accurately
and reliably solves the cross-platform measurement
problem " will benefi t cable, she says, as will " more advanced
voice/speech recognition capability as a means of navigating
and discovering content in a world of increasing clutter.
Finally, less sexy but quite helpful, is continued advancement
in bandwidth compression technologies given the advent of
4K and VR. "
56. David Porter
Executive Director,
The Walter Kaitz Foundation
Porter oversees day-to-day management
of the Kaitz Foundation, leading
decisions around the allocation
of Foundation funds in support of
cable industry diversity efforts and
development of an industry-wide supplier diversity initiative.
" Seamless integration of TV Everywhere " is the technology
September 2016
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Cablefax The Magazine - September 2016

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