Special Report
A Dozen Players Worth Watching in 2008
TelevisionWeek's annual roundup of the industry's most watchable figures takes a bird's-eye view of television and new media to profile 12 players who will be making an impact in 2008. Whether they're headed for smooth sailing or a hard landing, each one can be expected to do something worth watching. Here's a close-up look at who's making things happen in broadcast, cable, syndication, technology, advertising, production, news and other facets of the business.
2007 12 to Watch: Where Are They Now?
Peter Chernin The writers strike that loomed for months before becoming reality Nov. 5 was perhaps the most pressing new item of business to land on News Corp. President-Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin’s plate last year. Otherwise, 2007 was an... More »
12 to Watch: Lauren Zalaznick
Lauren Zalaznick, president of Bravo Media, decided to stay in town over the holidays. She was moving from one apartment to another and recently sold a weekend house. “We have two houses’ worth of contents that need to get organized... More »
12 to Watch: Andrea Wong
A little bit of success has new Lifetime CEO Andrea Wong turning up the competitive heat under the network’s staff for 2008. Shortly after Ms. Wong replaced Betty Cohen in April, Lifetime launched “Army Wives,” which proved to be the... More »
12 to Watch: Bill Tancer
There once was a time when we used to share our deepest secrets with our hairdresser. Now, we share those secrets with Google or Yahoo or MSN.com. We tell Google what we want, who we’re interested in, how we are... More »
12 to Watch: Michael Steib
In his inaugural year on the job at Google, Michael Steib launched the first major auction-based system for buying television spots and then guided a partnership between the world’s biggest search engine and the world’s most powerful TV ratings company.... More »
12 to Watch: Ben Silverman
There are two moments that encapsulate Ben Silverman’s eight-month leadership of NBC. The first was the fabulously awkward Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in October where the NBC co-chair joined the presidents of his network competitors on stage for... More »
12 to Watch: Marshall Herskovitz & Edward Zwick
The television industry should consider March 2 at 9 p.m. as appointment viewing for all. That’s when the biggest test so far in Web-to-TV convergence will occur, as NBC premieres “Quarterlife,” a six-week midseason replacement that started on the Internet.... More »
12 to Watch: Lisa Hackner
A onetime receptionist for Telepictures is now the cornerstone of the studio’s immersion into the digital world. “It’s an exciting time for us,” said Lisa Hackner, executive vice president of creative affairs for the company. “I think for all of... More »
12 to Watch: Dick Ebersol
With 3,600 hours of programming slated for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Dick Ebersol has finally relinquished control of the Games. “When you were watching the Olympics as recently as 12 years ago, you were watching Dick’s version of the Olympics.... More »
12 to Watch: Dave Davis
Dave Davis got caught up in politics when he left WABC-TV, after four years as president and general manager, to become executive VP of ABC News. Not office politics. Presidential politics. The long and crowded run for the White House... More »
12 to Watch: Mike Darnell
It seems an oversight that this is the first time Mike Darnell has graced TelevisionWeek’s “12 to Watch” list. Throughout his tenure running reality programming at Fox, his projects have resulted in outraged newspaper editorials and Nielsen spikes. Even when... More »
12 to Watch: Hank Close
When the television industry decided to sell ads based on commercial ratings last spring, no one faced a bigger challenge than Hank Close, head of ad sales for Viacom’s MTV Networks. During the upfront negotiations, Mr. Close was able to... More »
12 to Watch: Jeffrey Bewkes
As he takes the helm as CEO of Time Warner, Jeffrey Bewkes is playing things close to the vest. The conglomerate’s stock was stagnant under his predecessor, Richard Parsons, who had to clean up after the disastrous merger with America... More »