Fox Affiliate Chief Exits
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 3/25/2007 6:00:00 PM MT
Longtime Fox Cable Networks affiliate-sales executive Lindsay Gardner will resign his post at the end of April.
Gardner — who was named president of affiliate sales and marketing for the 28-channel Fox Cable Networks group last May — will join Mediatech Capital Partners, a banking firm that develops and funds new-media properties. He will serve as director of global media development, according to executives with knowledge of Gardner's planned departure.
Mediatech is a private merchant bank founded in 1996 by Porter Bibb, investment banker and author of Ted Turner: It Isn't As Easy As It Looks. Mediatech investments include Space.com, the space multimedia Web site founded by CNN anchor Lou Dobbs.
Gardner has been head of distribution at Fox Cable for eight years. He has overseen the launch of at least one new network for Fox each of the past six years. Since 2001, Fox Cable Networks Group introduced National Geographic Channel, NGC HD, Speed, Fuel, Fox College Sports, and Fox Reality.
He led all distribution and affiliate-marketing activities on behalf of FX, Fox Sports Net, 15 FSN owned-and-operated regional sports networks, Speed Channel, National Geographic Channel, NGC HD, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Reality, Fuel TV, Fox Sports en Español and Fox College Sports Atlantic, Central and Pacific. He also served as co-chair of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing Summit in 2006.
Neither Gardner nor Fox Cable Networks executives could be reached for comment by press time.
Potential replacements for Gardner include Fox Cable executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing Michael Hopkins, Gardner's key deal-making lieutenant.
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