40 Under Forty

By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 4/18/2011 12:01:00 AM

Each year, the editors of Multichannel News choose 40 movers and shakers under the age of 40 who are helping their companies grow and succeed, while playing an important part in mapping the future of cable and telecommunications. These individuals represent a cross-section of disciplines: networks, operators, finance, technology, programming, marketing and customer service. But they all have one thing in common: They’ve come a long way in a relatively short time and continue to make invaluable contributions in their areas of expertise. By no means intended as a comprehensive list of young executives to watch, here is a sampling of some of the key people helping to shape tomorrow’s industry.

Chris Allen
Vice President, Director of Video Innovation
SMGx
Age: 37
Chris Allen’s job is to bridge the gap between traditional media and emerging platforms. In his role as vice president and director of innovation at SMGx (the SMG Exchange) — which was created by media-buying firm Starcom MediaVest Group as way to exchange ideas and intelligence — he empowers Starcom’s agencies to test new models and leverage scale to drive marketplace and measurement efficiencies.

He joined Starcom in 2007 after spending 13 years at GSD&M, a regional advertising agency based in Austin, Texas.

He’s a member of a group called The Pool, a giant research-and-development operation involving marketers across the industry that aims to coordinate efforts in the engagement field.

“Working in both traditional and digital media has given me a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges of both areas and I think this experience helps me to formulate more thoughtful recommendations for my clients,” Allen said. “Our industry needs to get comfortable approaching media strategy and execution in a way that focuses less on individual platforms and more on how consumers move across them to meet their individual needs.”

Brent Arnold
Vice President – Engineering, Access And Transport Business Unit
Arris
Age: 39
Brent Arnold caught the engineering bug from his dad, a mechanical engineer. He would spend his evenings meticulously copying the drawings his father happened to be working on at the time.

After graduating from Penn State, he went to work for State College, Pa.-based C-COR, which just happened to be close by. Some 16 years later, he is overseeing the product-development organization within the Access and Transport Business Unit at Arris.

In a cable environment that has been consistently and historically constrained by bandwidth, Arnold and his team work to develop solutions to optimize bandwidth capacity for operations, while decreasing time to market for new service deployment over existing infrastructure. He spent more than a dozen years at C-COR (acquired by Arris in 2007), in a variety of roles. He was responsible for the system-test and verifications labs, support engineering and new product development.

Arnold considers himself lucky to have landed in cable just as the industry was transforming into a multichannel, multi-service and multiplatform business.

“I’ve been very blessed to spend the first 16 years of my career in such an exciting industry,” he said.

Brian Angiolet
Vice President of Consumer Strategy Marketing
Verizon Communications
Age: 37
Brian Angiolet has a lot on his plate. As vice president of consumer strategy and marketing, he is responsible for end-to-end accountability and strategy for Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV product, cloud applications, voice services and broadband offerings, including FiOS Internet and digital subscriber line service.

Angliolet’s team works on a range of initiatives, including long-term strategy and product positioning; franchise negotiations with cities and towns; pricing and promotion; advertising sales; and training the company’s sales-and-installation force.

He joined Verizon 12 years ago and has held a variety of posts. Most recently, he oversaw all regional marketing, including the marketing launch for FiOS TV and FiOS Internet. He led the 2004-05 marketing launch of the fiber-optic-delivered FiOS platform, developing advertising, marketing and all promotion for the service.

“I’ve been very proud to have been part of the team that has led the transformation of Verizon from a traditional telecom to an innovative broadband and entertainment provider,” he said. “It gives me tremendous confidence as we look forward to helping shape the future of the digital home and connected lifestyle. What we’re doing here is fun.”

Bernadette Aulestia
Senior Vice President, Domestic Distribution
Home Box Office
Age: 38
Bernadette Aulestia oversees all of HBO’s affiliate-sales and marketing efforts for Verizon Communications, AT&T, DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as HBO’s affiliatemarketing group, which is responsible for the acquisition and retention of subscribers across all distribution partners.

As senior vice president, domestic network distribution, Aulestia also manages HBO’s distribution efforts for the company’s authenticated video websites, HBO Go and Max Go.

Before her most recent promotion last October, Aulestia was senior vice president, affiliate and product marketing and was responsible for HBO and Cinemax’s acquisition efforts, as well as the marketing of HBO’s subscription video-on-demand services. She also oversaw the marketing efforts for the Hispanic, African-American, Asian and gay and lesbian audiences.

Aulestia joined HBO in 1997. Responsible for developing strategic marketing plans to increase HBO’s presence in Hispanic markets, she successfully designed and oversaw the execution of the network’s first national Hispanic brand campaign and the creation of HBO Latino. “It is extremely exciting to be a part of the industry at a time where consumer behavior and habits are being reshaped by technology and the relationship they expect to have with entertainment brands is on their terms,” she said. “Brands have never been more important, and being at HBO as the landscape shifts brings an enormous amount of opportunity to break new ground in the delivery of our content.”

Don Bowman
Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer
Sandvine
Age: 39
Don Bowman develops Sandvine’s technical vision, including the strategic development, direction and future growth of the Waterloo, Canada-based broadband-equipment provider’s products and solutions. The company’s technology handles policy management, including spam control, usage-based billing, quality of service and peer-to-peer path optimization. Before co-founding Sandvine in 2001, Bowman was director of firmware and manager of software engineering for mediaplayer application creator PixStream, responsible for system architecture. He also served as manager of software engineering in the Video Networking Business Unit at Cisco Systems.

“I see myself continuing to define a new industry — intelligent networking — and making it a core part of the Internet architecture in all access technologies,” Bowman said. “This will take continued interaction with industry, customers, governments and standards.”

Bowman played a key role in Canada’s debate over network neutrality, working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on the issue of deep-packet inspection. He also filed comments in the Federal Communications Commission’s open Internet rulemaking.

Jay Chambers
Chief Architect for Cable, Office of the CTO
BigBand Networks
Age: 35
Jay Chambers works in a decidedly technical environment, but he is constantly looking outside the box and coming up with new consumer content and services. As chief architect for cable in BigBand Networks’ office of the chief technical officer, Chambers is on a mission to make cable cool in the eyes of both consumers and businesses.

Chambers’ job is to translate consumer desires into solutions that will allow cable operators to deliver and monetize their services. For instance, he pioneered the commercial use of Digital Living Network Alliance-compliant products in cable, helping operators compete with over-the-top content providers and extend their services throughout the consumer’s home.

Chambers oversees the development of new video products and solutions related to Internet-protocol TV, the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS), edge quadrature amplitude modulation systems and switched digital video. Before joining BigBand, Chambers worked for WilTel Communications. He also served as a network engineer at Cox Communications, Marconi/FORE Systems, Anixter Network Services and Chesapeake Energy.

“As new technologies create more possibilities, the industry is only limited by its imagination,” Chambers said. “I’m so excited about my role using IP video to ‘make cable cool again’ that I even think about it when I’m walking through an electronics store and my kids ask for some new gadget — I think about how can I put live video on that.”

Naveen Chopra
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development And Strategy
TiVo
Age: 38
In the eight years since Naveen Chopra joined TiVo, he has helped expand the digital video recorder maker’s global distribution through a variety of commercial and strategic transactions. He’s also helped steer TiVo’s overall strategic direction.

Before coming to TiVo in 2003, Chopra already had 10 years of experience in the consumer/media/technology industry. He was director of product marketing and business development at Moxi Digital, developing that firm’s first partnership with cable and satellite companies. He helped negotiate the sale of Moxi to Paul Allen’s Digeo.

Chopra also worked at Microsoft, where he worked on the world’s first integrated DVR product with EchoStar Communications and developed Microsoft’s Ultimate TV product line.

He has also worked as director of business development for Ofoto and helped the startup company Mirra, which was eventually acquired by Seagate. Chopra began his career at Hewlett-Packard, where he held a number of positions in engineering, product marketing and business development.

Arelys Carballo
Director of Factual Programming
Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, Discovery Networks Latin America/U.S. Hispanic
Age: 31 Arelys Carballo oversees long- and short-term scheduling strategies for both Discovery Channel Latin America and Animal Planet Latin America. Before joining Discovery, Carballo worked for BBC Worldwide Channels Latin America as director of scheduling and acquisitions for BBC Entertainment and CBeebies.

Carballo’s current stint at Discovery is her second tour of duty with Discovery Communications: She worked in various programming management roles there before jumping ship briefly to the BBC.

With more than 11 years of experience in programming, acquisitions and development, Carballo has also worked for MTV Latin America, E! and The Horse TV Channel.

Her first job: Dressing up as Barney, the purple dinosaur, at kids’ parties. She has film-making credits, having wrote and co-produced the short film Toxic with two other Discovery employees. Toxic was accepted to film festivals in Washington, D.C., Miami and Los Angeles.

Theresa Chillianis
General Manager MSG
Varsity
Age: 39
Theresa Chillianis held several senior positions at Cablevision Systems before she was named general manager of MSG Varsity, the 24-hour cable network, website and interactive- TV service covering high-school sports in the greater New York City region, in 2009.

Today, she oversees the strategic management, development and operation of MSG Varsity’s suite of services. She was instrumental in all aspects of the service’s launch, developing MSG Varsity’s marketing, programming, production, scheduling and digital media.

Under her leadership, MSG Varsity has developed a number of unprecedented partnerships with hundreds of high schools enabling those schools to become active participants in telling their story on TV and online.

Before her current gig at MSG Varsity, Chillianis was senior vice president of strategy and business operations for national music network Fuse. She also served as vice president of video-product management in Cablevision’s cable-operations division. She joined the Bethpage, N.Y.-based cable operator in 2000 from Coopers & Lybrand.

“Since our launch in 2009, we’ve had the privilege of working with and showcasing thousands of talented students across the tri-state area,” she said. “We look forward to continuing to work with high schools to deliver a service that we believe provides real value to students, parents, educators and the community at large.”

Cameron Clayton
Senior Vice President, Product
The Weather Channel
Age: 35
Under Cameron Clayton’s watchful eye, The Weather Channel’s smartphone application has become the second-mostpopular among users, trailing only Facebook in the category. As vice president, product for The Weather Channel, he has also been responsible for making Weather.com a top 20 website. In addition, Clayton and his team are credited with making The Weather Channel a leading media company in cross-platform usage (TV, Web and mobile), according to Nielsen data.

Clayton, a native of New Zealand, joined Weather in 2004 as manager of business development, fostering distribution relationships for Weather.com. Before that, he was director of sales and marketing for MSN in New Zealand.

Clayton started his professional career selling the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor. He subsequently launched New Zealand’s first digital ad agency, which he eventually sold. He fell in love and moved to the U.S. to be with the woman he would eventually marry. Clayton said he went to work for The Weather Channel because of the digital innovation, scale and potential of the company and the industry.

Rich DiGeronimo
Senior Vice President, Product & Strategy
Charter Communications
Age: 33
It takes a lot of passion, drive and grit to ride the Leadville 100 bicycle race, a grueling 100-mile trek traversing the mountains outside of Leadville, Colo., where racers grunt as they climb to higher than 13,000 feet before descending back into town (elevation 10,152).

Rick DiGeronimo, who has successfully participated in that race, as well as other cycling competitions in Colorado, takes his passion for cycling and puts it to work as Charter Communications’ senior vice president, product and strategy. He leads the St. Louis-based cable operator’s corporate strategy, business development, product management and product development teams.

“I’m a lucky guy, both personally and professionally,” he said. “I work with a great team that I learn from every day, in a stimulating industry, for a company that expects accountability and offers ample opportunity to learn — from both failure and success.”

DiGeronimo is accountable for crafting the organization’s strategic direction, forming partnerships, developing new products and managing all of Charter’s existing offerings to achieve long-term growth and the best experience for customers.

Timothy Farrell
Vice President, Wireless Product Development
Cablevision Systems
Age: 40
Timothy Farrell had eight years of wireless experience under his belt when he joined Cablevision Systems in 2008 as vice president, wireless product development.

Today, he is responsible for product strategy, evolution and partnerships for Optimum WiFi, which is provided free to Optimum Online customers and provides wireless Internet access in public locations throughout Cablevision’s New York City-area operating footprint.

The network currently spans tens of thousands of access points, including restaurants, shopping centers, main streets and commuter-rail train platforms. On average, Cablevision customers use the service more than 6 million times a month.

Before joining Cablevision three years ago, Farrell had been vice president of product management, professional services and engineering for Boingo Wireless, a global Wi-Fi aggregator. He graduated from CTAM University at Harvard University in 2010.

Bill Haase
Vice President, Finance and Administration
Comcast Spotlight
Age: 38
As Comcast Spotlight’s chief financial officer, Bill Haase oversees the division’s finance, human resources and legal functions.

Since joining the MSO’s ad-sales unit in 2002, Haase has become an integral part of its senior leadership team. He has been a key player in all major negotiations; integration work, including melding Adelphia Communications systems with Comcast’s following the acquisition of that MSO; and in such acquisitions as Vehix.com, STRATA and Spot Buy Spot. He also participated in affiliation deals with DirecTV, Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV, Dish Network and AT&T’s U-verse TV.

Before joining Spotlight, Haase worked at Ernst & Young and CDNow.com, a publicly traded Internet retailer.

“I am constantly challenged with new opportunities and feel empowered by our leaders to identify ways for us to reach new heights,” Haase said, “and I find it particularly fulfilling to extend that feeling of opportunity and empowerment to my team.”

Damla Dogan
Senior Vice President, Original Programming And Series Development
E!
Age: 36
Damla Dogan oversees the development of programs, collaborates with outside creative executives and forges key relationships within the entertainment industry on behalf of E!.

She helped steer development of some of E!’s most-popular reality series, including the entire Keeping Up With the Kardashians franchise, as well as The Spin Crowd, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood and What’s Eating You.

The recently promoted Dogan joined E! from VH1, where she served as director of series development and original programming. She was the creative executive on the reality series Dice: Undisputed, Shooting Sizemore and The Fabulous Life Presents: Really Rich Real Estate.

Also while at VH1, Dogan supervised much of the creative for the docusoap The Rock Life and scripted the comedy I Hate My 30s.

Jeff Fleeher
Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
TV Networks Distribution and Digital Distribution NBC Universal
Age: 38
Jeff Fleeher has spent his entire professional career at General Electric and currently serves as senior vice president and chief financial officer for NBC Universal’s TV Networks and Digital Distribution units. In this role, he manages financial matters and business operations for NBCU’s cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo owned-and-operated broadcast-TV stations, as well as for Olympic Games-related content on TV and online. He also oversees financial matters for NBCU’s Digital Distribution team, which develops and markets new distribution outlets for NBCU TV and film content across on-demand, mobile and electronic sell-through platforms.

“My past four years at NBCU have been an amazing time to grow and learn in a rapidly changing distribution environment,” Fleeher said. “Our team’s success has been built on integrity, collaboration and innovation in everything we do.”

Fleeher began his career with roles at NBCU co-owner GE, with GE Corporate and GE Energy. Before that, he was an active duty officer with the U.S. Army, holding command and staff assignments as an AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot. He is scheduled to complete his executive master’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in May 2011.

Becky Henderson
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Halogen TV
Age: 34
Becky Henderson had worked in just about every department at The Inspiration Networks, parent company of Halogen TV, by the time she was tasked with launching the youth-targeted channel in the fourth quarter of 2009. As executive vice president and GM of Halogen, Henderson oversees the network that targets younger viewers with series, specials and short films, with an emphasis on motivating the channel’s audience to make the world a better place.

Henderson’s job is to lure younger audiences to Halogen. The network was rebranded in late 2009 from i-LifeTV.

Among the innovative programming ideas Henderson has implemented at Halogen is giving viewers the ability to watch pilots to help determine whether the network should green-light them as series.

“Entertainment is only the beginning,” Henderson said. “I’ll know I’ve done my job well when we’re not only friends with our viewers, programmers and distributors, but we’re changing the world side by side.”

Adriana Ibañez
Executive Vice President, Programming
Telemundo Age: 35
At 35, Adriana Ibañez has already accomplished more than many people much older than her, and there is no evidence that she is slowing down. As executive vice president of programming for Telemundo, Ibañez is responsible for network design and creation, programming strategy and program acquisitions at the largest U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster.

Ibañez joined Telemundo in 2003 after serving as vice president of programming for Canal Caracol in Colombia. In that role, Ibañez led Caracol to No. 1 in the ratings. Her decision to bring the first-ever reality-TV show to Colombia — a local version of Survivor — proved to be a huge ratings winner for the channel.

Ibañez graduated in business management with an emphasis in marketing from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.

Barbara Kalosieh
Vice President, National Accounts
Scripps Networks Interactive
Age: 37 Barbara Kalosieh, a 12-year veteran of Scripps Networks, currently oversees the company’s network-distribution partnerships with Verizon Communications and AT&T for the programmer’s lifestyle media brands, including HGTV, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. She also supports the company’s affiliate sales and marketing team’s business development activities.

Before taking her current position, Kalosieh served as regional director of affiliate sales, where she was responsible for the network distribution of Scripps’ brand in the Northeastern region of the country. She joined Scripps from NBC Cable Networks, where she worked in the affiliate-sales department. She has also held sales positions with TCI Media Services and TCI of Northern New Jersey.

Kalosieh is currently co-president of the New York chapter of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing. She has also served on the board of CTAM New England.

Leah Buhl LaPlaca
Vice President, Programming and Acquisitions
ESPN
Age: 37
Leah Buhl LaPlaca has been instrumental in the success of ESPN’s Monday Night Football since its move from corporate sibling ABC in 2006. As vice president of programming and acquisitions, LaPlaca oversees the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the championship category. She is also responsible for ESPN’s content-rights group.

Since joining ESPN, LaPlaca has managed ESPN’s golf programming including coverage of the The Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the Ryder Cup. She also managed ESPN’s coverage of The Masters Par 3 Contest. In addition, LaPlaca oversaw ESPN’s soccer, figure-skating and Arena Football League coverage. She was integral in ESPN’s successful 2005 bid for the rights to the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup events through 2014.

“Relationships are the cornerstone of successful partnerships, and I’m fortunate to work with a great team of people not only here at ESPN, but also with leaders from some of the industry’s top sports organizations,” LaPlaca said. “The key is to always focus on what’s best for both parties over the long term — not just over a single issue or current contract — and that’s the approach I try to take.”

David Joyce
Managing Director, Media Equity Research
Miller Tabak & Co.
Age: 39
With 18 years of experience in equity research and investment banking, David Joyce is well-positioned to analyze the cable industry with a veteran’s eye.

Joyce joined Miller Tabak in 2005 as the company’s equity-research media analyst. He had been senior analyst covering the media business at J.B. Hanauer & Co. and at Guzman & Co.

He started his career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers, where he was an investment banking analyst covering fi nancial institutions. In 2004, Joyce placed third in The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” ranking of stock analysts.

“I’ve been increasingly interested in highlighting to investors the robustness of the cable platform as it can enable interactive advertising and other applications across the TV ecosystem, which can help the operators monetize their multiple billions of capital expenditures with new ways to generate returns on their investments,” Joyce said.

Jennifer Khoury
Newcomb Vice President, Corporate Communications
Comcast
Age: 38
Jennifer Khoury Newcomb has helped tell Comcast’s story during a period of unprecedented growth for the fivedecade- old company, now the nation’s largest cable company and owner of giant media firm NBC Universal. She has risen through the ranks, starting as vice president of public relations for Comcast Cable’s New England region.

She was senior director of consumer and corporate communications until 2007, when she was appointed to her current position as vice president, corporate communications. Before joining Comcast, Khoury Newcomb managed community relations and media relations for AT&T Broadband and MediaOne’s New England territories.

“Seeing Comcast grow through my 12 years with the company has been an incredible experience,” Khoury Newcomb said. “I’m lucky to have the rare opportunity to work with smart people in a company that is a leader in multiple industries.”

Marisol Martinez de Rodriguez
Senior Director, Target Marketing
Time Warner Cable
Age: 38
Multicultural marketing is a passion for Marisol Martinez de Rodriguez. As corporate Hispanic and African-American director for Time Warner Cable’s corporate marketing group, Martinez de Rodriguez’s charge includes corporate branding and competitive advertising, video-on-demand, sports marketing, interactive marketing, loyalty programs and promotions.

“A mentor once told me, ‘When you’re passionate about what you do, you will drive change, so always challenge the status quo,’ ” Martinez de Rodriguez said. “Brand-building, which is what I do, is all about humanizing a company, product or service, so that it’s meaningful to a core audience. Multicultural marketing is a business imperative, not just a ‘nice thing to do.’ To win the hearts and minds of this growing segment, brands have to understand their core cultural insights, passions and aspirations, and that’s what inspires me every day at my job.”

Before joining TWC, Martinez de Rodriguez held marketing positions at Unilever and Verizon Communications. She also worked for Grey Worldwide/Wing Latino Group and was responsible for consumer packaged-goods branding, entertainment and cable products.

Dennis Mathew
Senior Director, New Business
Comcast
Age: 33
For years, the cable industry has tried to offer security services to its customers. Now, when it looks like the technology will really work, Dennis Mathew is leading Comcast’s charge to launch Xfninity Home Security.

Mathew helped build the business case for Xfninity Home Security, a new initiative for Comcast, and for home-automation services, and is now working with cross-functional teams to execute local trials.

Mathew manages the unit’s budget, negotiates business terms with vendors and builds financial forecasts. He also works with the engineers, sales, marketing, customer care, technical operations and third-party vendors to design and implement successful operational models.

Before joining Comcast, Mathew worked as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and with Arthur Andersen.

“Comcast is an innovative company that is looking to transform this industry. I am fortunate to be part of it and to work with incredibly smart, hard-working individuals,” he said. “Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two daughters. I also enjoy actively leveraging my professional experiences to help non-profi t organizations.”

Susanne McAvoy
Executive Vice President, Marketing
Crown Media Holdings/ Hallmark Channels
Age: 39
As Crown Media’s executive vice president of marketing, Susanne McAvoy’s job is to ensure all aspects of Hallmark Channels’ brand promise and integrity. She is responsible for developing multiplatform campaigns for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel for for consumers, affiliates and advertisers.

McAvoy also oversees the creative-services department, including print, on-air and Web design. And she serves as the key liaison with Hallmark Cards, developing synergistic and strategic opportunities.

Before joining Hallmark, McAvoy was an ad-sales marketing consultant for Bravo, where she managed branded entertainment integrations for major clients and oversaw the 2007-08 upfront sales and marketing initiative.

McAvoy also worked at Comcast Spotlight as director, ad sales, corporate marketing, where she created and executed the company’s first-ever upfront event. She also held marketing positions with Oxygen, MTV and Turner Broadcasting System. McAvoy is actively involved with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing at the local and national level. She recently finished a two-year term as president of the New York chapter and is currently serving her second term as a Mark Awards committee member.

Bill McGoldrick
Senior Vice President, Original Scripted Programming
USA Network
Age: 37
Bill McGoldrick returned to USA Network almost two years ago, after moving to Viacom-owned Spike TV in 2005 as vice president, original series programming of the guy-focused channel.

When he returned to USA in June 2009, he took the role of senior vice president, original scripted programming, overseeing all of the “Characters Welcome” network’s scripted development. He has worked on several series including Monk, The Invisible Man, Psych and The 4400.

“As someone who tried writing scripts in college, I was interested in scripted development right from the start of my career,” McGoldrick said. “I tell all aspiring executives that you learn more from reading bad scripts than good ones, because good writers make it look easy.”

McGoldrick said it’s an exciting time to work for USA right now as the network is boldly branching out into new types of programming.

“We are expanding out into new genres because … people remember that we didn’t get to the place we are now by playing it safe,” he said.

Mark Muehl
Senior Vice President, Product Engineering
Comcast
Age: 36
In his role as senior vice president of product engineering for Comcast’s National Engineering and Technical Operations divisions, Mark Muehl is responsible for managing integrated product development lifecycle at the nation’s largest cable operator, from design through customer care and support.

Before taking on his current role with Comcast, Muehl served as senior vice president of Internet operations for AOL, where he was responsible for architecture, construction and operation of a $400 million global Internetprotocol network.

Muehl holds a U.S. patent for throttling electronic communications from one or more centers.

“The best part of my job is that I get to work with some of the best and brightest in the entertainment and communications industries on a wide variety of products and services used by millions of people every day,” Muehl said.

Jennifer Pirot
Vice President of Business Development and Sales
NBC Universal Digital Distribution
Age: 39
As vice president of business development sales, Jennifer Pirot has been very successful in closing deals for NBC Universal with several major multichannel, hotel and wireless distributors.

She is also a key player in the development of the company’s overall film and television content-distribution strategy. Moreover, Pirot oversees wireless deals, including video and app distribution on mobile devices and tablets and out-of-home distribution to key commercial institutions.

Pirot launched NBC Universal’s first on-demand TV offerings, as well as its first mobile offerings in Canada, and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the media giant’s TV Everywhere strategy.

“Never be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone,” Pirot said. “In fact, seek those opportunities out and embrace them.”

Prior to joining NBC Universal in 2005, Pirot served as vice president at In Demand, where she was responsible for all strategic planning and financial analysis for the videoon- demand and pay-per-view content distributor.

Clare Reichenbach
Executive Vice President/Business Development
BBC Worldwide Americas
Age: 36
Clare Reichenbach is responsible for developing and implementing corporate and divisional strategies designed to grow BBC Worldwide Americas’ business in the U.S.

A relative newcomer to the U.S. — she moved from London to New York in November 2009 — Reichenbach also works with business leaders across the company to project trends, access growth opportunities, launch initiatives and strengthen commercial activity. She works closely with BBC Worldwide Americas president Herb Scannell, advising on strategic business issues as well as the development and employment of corporate strategies for the company’s six units.

Before coming to the U.S., Reichenbach spent two years as BBC Worldwide’s head of strategy. Before joining BBC Worldwide, she served in a similar role as head of strategy for BBC Vision, the BBC’s television arm. While there, she oversaw a review of the unit’s inhouse production arm that led to a new structure, commissioning system and production approach. Reichenbach began her BBC career in 2003 as corporate strategy manager and has also been a strategy consultant for both Sky and Gemini Consulting. After graduating from Oxford, Reichenbach worked for two years at an international startup media company.

Theresa Patiri
Vice President, Production Management, Operations and Administration
WE TV and Wedding Central
Age: 33
Weddings are big business, and Theresa Patiri makes sure the business of wedding-related TV, production and operations runs smoothly and profitably.

As vice president, production management, operations and administration for WE TV and Wedding Central, Patiri is responsible for business affairs and financial oversight of all original productions including deal negotiations, talent contracts, rights and clearances, show budgets, international and domestic program sales and royalties and day-to-day production operations for all original series, specials, documentaries, pilots, interstitials and demos. Before joining the Rainbow Media-owned networks, Patiri worked at NBC News & Entertainment Operations.

“Over the past 10 years, I’ve been a part of a team that has grown WE TV to become a go-to women’s destination, launched Wedding Central and expanded WE TV’s popular shows to the international marketplace,” she said. “These successes would not have been possible without the hardworking, inspiring and dedicated individuals at WE TV, many of whom I am proud to call friends.”

Michael Quigley
Vice President, Business Development and Multiplatform Distribution
Turner Broadcasting System
Age: 39
Michael Quigley leads the charge at Turner on initiatives such as TV Everywhere, interactive TV, connected devices, content research and navigation, and electronic sellthrough.

As vice president of business development and multiplatform distribution, Quigley has been instrumental in developing Turner’s strategic multiplatform business model.

Quigley evaluates new Internet-protocol video-distribution technologies, develops advanced video products, cultivates partnerships with consumer-electronics manufacturers and develops new business models with internal and external constituencies. He also serves as the primary liaison between the business development and Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media units.

Prior to joining Turner in 2006, Quigley was vice president of business development and strategy for DMX Music.

He also served as director of business development for Liberty Digital and as manager of strategic planning for Time Warner Inc.

“I can’t think of another industry I’d rather work in than the media industry,” he said. “ Working on shaping the future of the industry — and how to do so profitably — is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I get to work front and center on changing the media landscape as we know it, and I do it alongside extremely smart and passionate people at Turner. It makes coming to work every day that much more gratifying.”

Jill Sanford
Director of Original Series
Disney Television Animation
Age: 33
When Walt Disney said, “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive,” he may have been characterizing Jill Sanford. As director of original series for Disney Channel, she has been involved in all stages of development and production.

Sanford is the executive on Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb, which has been ranked at the top of the ratings among tweens aged 9 to 14 for the three consecutive years (2008- 10). She also oversees the new animated hit Fish Hooks.

Sanford has been with The Walt Disney Co. since 2003, where she started as a development assistant in the Disney Channel original series department. Since then, she’s been involved with animated shows The Replacements and The Emperor’s New School, as well as the live-action pilots for Hannah Montana, The Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

Before joining Disney, Sanford was a researcher and production assistant for the Fox Sports Net sports-biography show Beyond the Glory and an assistant at the production company Hungry Man.

John Saroff
Head of TV Ads, Strategic Partnership Development
Google
Age: 35
As one of the founding members of the Google TV Ads team, John Saroff has been at the leading edge of the development, structure and execution of business alliances between the online giant and cable and satellite companies.

He came to Google in 2007 after serving as a director at NBC Universal. While there, he oversaw efforts to acquire content for NBCU’s digital-video syndication arm, NBBC, and worked on the company’s Hulu.com transition team.

Before his stint at NBCU, Saroff was an attorney with the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Upon graduating from college in 1998, he received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to travel and live in Scotland and South Africa studying the effects of race, class and gender barriers in golf. The project was called Lies In the Rough: Race, Class and Gender Barriers in Golf in Scotland and South Africa.

“I lived at golf clubs and courses in both countries, made tons of friends, worked really, really hard (seriously) and learned a heck of a lot about life and golf,” he said.

Jeff Sherwin
Founder/President
This Technology
Age: 34
Jeff Sherwin founded This Technology five years ago, providing operators and networks with open-source software that facilitates dynamic ad insertion between cable opeators and programming networks. Earlier this year, This Technology introduced Spotlink, a free product for the advanced-advertising market that connects an programmer’s ad-serving equipment with operators using the SCTE 130 interface.

Before forming This Technology, Sherwin was a cofounder and managing director of technology at Cauldron Solutions (now Anystream Media), was a financial consultant and worked on Wall Street as a software developer.

Sherwin’s entrepreneurial roots took hold during his days as a Columbia grad student at Columbia University. A project he proposed in the Lang Fund Foundation competition was essentially his business model for This Technology. He won the competition and now serves as a judge for it each year.

“Thus far, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished as the only independent vendor providing ad inventory management solutions to contribute to this market’s growth, innovation and longevity,” Sherwin said. “There are certainly more challenges to overcome and opportunities to seize and we are committed to remaining at at the forefront of advanced advertising.”

Jill Shields
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Promotions
Turner Broadcasting System AYAKM Division
Age: 36
Jill Shields develops and executes promotional marketing for Turner Broadcasting System’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media division. As senior vice president of marketing and promotions, Shields delivers ad-sales solutions across the division, including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and the unit’s new-media properties. Shields also supervises all the division’s special events and trade marketing, as well as the upfront ad programs for Cartoon and Adult Swim.

Before taking her current gig, Shields served as vice president of promotions marketing and sponsorships for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. In that role, she was responsible for developing national advertiser promotional programs and sponsorships across multiple platforms.

Shields began her tenure at Turner in 2000 as a new media consultant for Cartoon and was quickly hired fulltime as senior manager of promotions marketing and sponsorships for Cartoon Network New Media.

“[The job] offers me the opportunity to keep abreast of many different industries and exposed to different marketing challenges and strategies,” Shields said. “It’s truly the best of both worlds and let’s face it, being close to the money is fun and always a good place to be.”

Jeff Siegel
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Advertising
Rovi
Age: 39
Jeff Siegel is relatively new to Rovi — he joined the company in October 2010. But as a 20-year ad-industry veteran, he brought with him experience at all levels of the business and strong relationships with agencies, publishers, networks, sports leagues, vendors and distributors.

In the short time he has been with Rovi, Siegel has grown the company’s client base and led the advertising team to expand on the sales opportunities for conventional advertising for auto companies, household goods, financial firms and retail outlets. As senior vice president of worldwide advertising for Rovi, Siegel is in charge of all digital advertising initiatives, including guide ad sales and distribution across the Rovi Advertising Network.

Before joining Rovi, Siegel worked for Ensequence. He also spent 13 years at ESPN, eventually serving as senior vice president, advanced media sales and marketing, where he led the sales, marketing and development of advanced-media platforms.

“I’ve always been fascinated by technology and how it can improve the entertainment experience,” Siegel said. “I’m fortunate to work in a company that pushes the boundaries of the changing media landscape and with customers who are willing to take risks.”

Andy Singer
Senior Vice President/ General Manager
DIY Network
Age: 36
Like the stars of the shows that DIY Network features, Andy Singer has been a builder: First as head of programming and currently as senior vice president and general manager.

He has been responsible for program development, production, on-air acquisition and talent. He recruited celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Rainn Wilson, Jay Leno, sportscaster Dan Patrick and wrestler Bill Goldberg to participate in DIY Network series. During his tenure at the network, DIY has surpassed 50 million homes and shown impressive ratings gains.

Today, Singer is responsible for supervising all aspects of the brand and works closely with sister network HGTV to foster greater cooperation and collaboration between the two Scripps Networks Interactive co-owned networks.

Prior to joining DIY, Singer was vice president of original programming for HGTV, supervising such series as My First Place, House Hunters, Dream House: After Katrina and Living With Ed, a docusoap following the green lifestyle of actor Ed Begley Jr.

Before joining Scripps Networks in 2005, Singer was a show producer at VH1. His TV career, which started at age 16, has also included stints at A&E Network, 20th Century Fox, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

Maggie McLean
Suniewick Vice President, Programming
Comcast Interactive Media
Age: 35
“ I’ve always been passionate about content,” Maggie McLean Suniewick, Comcast Interactive Media’s vice president of programming, said. “What I love about my work is that I get to collaborate with all the programmers to figure out new ways to increase viewership of their shows on TV, on demand and online.”

Suniewick is responsible for programming and editorial services across Comcast’s online products and services, including Xfinity.com and Xfinity TV, the Philadelphia- based operator’s “TV Everywhere” website (xfinitytv.comcast.net). Since those services launched, consumers now have more than 150,000 programming choices available on Xfinity TV.

Suniewick also maintains programmer relations. She and her team manage Comcast Interactive Media’s partnerships with around 90 content providers. She has been with Comcast since 2006, when she signed on as director, new business development.

Before coming to Comcast, Suniewick was one of the original employees of Oxygen Media. She spent seven years with the women’s programmer, in a variety of roles.

Dan Suratt
Executive Vice President, Digital Media and Business Development
A&E Television Networks
Age: 39
Dan Suratt is a six-time Emmy Award winner who is responsible for all strategic, operational, editorial and business functions for AETN Digital.

As executive vice president, digital media and business development for AETN, he also oversees the broadband and mobile elements of A&E Network, History, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Channel and Bio; as well as Roiworld.com, a site where fashion meets games; DressUpChallenge.com, a dress-up fashion site; MothersClick.com, a community site for women; and Lifetime Games.

Suratt has overseen the expansion of Lifetime’s digital footprint; its website has become one of the most popular destinations for women.

Under his watch, Lifetime Digital sites registered an all-time high 3.8 million unique visitors and 93 million page views in May 2009. During his three-year tenure, the sites have experienced a 319% spike in unique visitors and a 901% growth in page views.

Before joining AETN, Suratt was vice president, business and new-media development for NBC Olympics. At NBC, he worked on three Summer Olympics and two Winter Games. He won one of his Emmys for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 1997 NBA Finals.

Nick Troiano
President
BlackArrow
Age: 37
Since joining BlackArrow as president, Nick Troiano has been in the forefront of helping cable to monetize the shift in consumer viewing habits toward consuming more and more on-demand programming.

The San Jose, Calif.-based advanced-advertising company has announced agreements with Comcast and Bresnan Communications, and has signifi cant traction among pay TV operators, cable programmers and Web content providers.

Prior to his gig at BlackArrow, Troiano served as vice president of business development within the U.S. partnership group at Yahoo. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of sales and business development for Maven Networks (acquired by Yahoo in February of 2008).

“Enabling on-demand monetization to keep pace with on-demand viewing is absolutely essential to the future of the cable industry,” Troiano said. “At BlackArrow, we’re seeing tremendous enthusiasm from operators and programmers for solutions that provide advertising agencies with the addressability, accountability and timeliness they need to drive new TV advertising to another level.”

Albert “Scooter” Vertino
Vice President, Content For NBA Digital
Turner Sports/ NBA Digital
Age: 40
For the last 15 years, Albert “Scooter” Vertino has been making sure Turner Sports delivers the best sports product on television by making content decisions, implementing new approaches, providing editorial direction and intimately working with the TV and online production staff.

He has played a key role as lead producer of TNT’s coverage of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and the NBA Conference Finals. He has also served as a producer for TBS’s Sunday afternoon Major League Baseball package and coverage of the MLB Division and League Championship Series.

Although Turner Sports is an NBA veteran — it’s been covering pro hoops for some 27 years — the rights deal that put Turner in charge of NBA Digital and NBA TV marks the first time the division has operated a 24-hour network.

In his current position, Vertino has helped create new programming including the Trade Deadline Show and the Midnight Free Agent Show last summer. He will continue to lend his expertise to help raise the profile of NBA TV and escalate the service as a destination for casual and hard-core pro-basketball fans.