Armando Nuñez Jr.

World Screen Weekly, October 5, 2006

President

CBS Paramount International Television

In any profession, there aren’t that many people who really love what they do, and there are fewer still who knew from a very young age what their life’s passion would be. Armando Nuñez Jr. is one of those lucky few. His father, Armando Nuñ¥º¬ Sr., who worked in international film and television distribution, had such a love for his profession that he served as a formidable role model for young Armando. “My dad worked at Twentieth Century Fox in Havana doing film distribution for the theatrical side of the business,” explains Nuñez. “When he left Cuba and moved to New York with my mom, and my mom was eight months pregnant with me, he started working for Fox in the States. When I was in the third or fourth grade I remember there used to be in The Daily News a column called “The Inquiring Photographer.” It had a question for the day and [reporters would] stop people in the street and take their picture and there was a little interview piece. One time they asked kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. And I said, ‘I want to be in the international television business like my father who travels around the world and sells TV shows.’ And look at me now.”

Today, Nuñez is the president of CBS Paramount International Television, but he has been in international distribution for the past 20 years. During his career he has held several top management positions at Viacom Entertainment, at New World International Television Distribution and at Universal International Television. He joined CBS Broadcast International as president in July 1999. In January 2000, following the merger of CBS Television and King World Productions, he assumed the role of president of CBS Broadcast International, and executive VP of CBS Enterprises. He was named president of CBS Paramount International Television following the merger of CBS Broadcast International and Paramount International Television in August 2004.

“I always consider myself incredibly fortunate to be doing what I always wanted to do,” he says. “I love this job because it involves so many different skills. You are a part-time sales person, an economist and a U.N. diplomat. I am very lucky and very passionate about what I do.”

Nuñez readily admits that the international television industry has become exceedingly complex. “Sure, it’s complicated, but in complicated situations there is a lot of opportunity as well,” he explains. “You can’t compare where this business is now to where it was when I first started, or to where it was five years ago or three years ago or a year ago. It’s constantly evolving and it’s a challenge to stay on top of it. But at the same time, I’m very excited about all the opportunities. The trick for us is to continue to be the best we can in traditional distribution, stay on top of evolving new media, and figure out how the two are going to fit together. We have to try new things from which we can learn and hopefully create new revenue streams. But at the end of the day, that’s incremental, not taking money from one pocket and putting it into the other."

Certainly the basis of any distribution outlet, traditional or new media, is compelling content. And Nuñ¥ºis very pleased with CBS Paramount International Television’s current slate. Dramas such as NCIS, Medium and The 4400 have performed very well in the U.S. and internationally. And the reality series America’s Next Top Model has not only scored very good ratings in the U.S., but the format of the show has been sold to 13 territories. And of course, the U.S. version of Survivor continues to sell around the world.

Two new dramas, Jericho, which debuted on CBS last month, and 3 Lbs, a mid-season drama for CBS with Stanley Tucci, created a lot of buzz at the L.A. Screenings, explains Nuñez.

When asked what he would say if his five-year-old son told him he wanted to work in international television, Nuñez replies, “I’d tell him you’ll excel at anything you have a strong passion for. Whatever that is, learn everything you can about it. Be a sponge and soak up as much information as you can. The fact of the matter is, as long as I’ve been doing this—particularly as the markets change—you learn something new all the time. So you can never feel like you know it all.”