Lisa Hall, a cofounder of Oxygen who is credited with being instrumental in the women’s network’s major deals, has been promoted to the post of president of Oxygen Media, chairman and CEO Geraldine Laybourne said Tuesday.
Hall -- who has been with Oxygen since its inception in 1998 and who has served as chief operating officer since 1999 -- will add the title of president effective immediately.
“Lisa is a very strong leader,” Laybourne said in a prepared statement. “She’s a fearless negotiator and holds an impressive command of the complexities in our industry and our daily operations. She’s been the driving force behind all of Oxygen’s major deals.”
Hall engineered Oxygen’s partnerships with Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions company and Vulcan Inc. She also played a large role in Oxygen getting distribution, which is now at the 52 million-subscriber level.
Hall will continue to oversee the ad-sales division, while Gina Garrubbo, executive vice president of ad sales, is leaving to start a consulting practice. Now Mary Jean Cavanaugh and Karl Lewis, both senior VPs of ad sales, will report directly to Hall.
John Popkowski, former executive VP of ad sales at MTV Networks, is consulting for Oxygen on its ad-sales strategy.
Also Tuesday Daniel Taitz was named chief administrative officer at Oxygen, reporting to Hall. Most recently, he was the network’s general counsel. In his new role, he will be responsible for Oxygen’s finance, legal, facilities and human-resource areas.
