Interviews

President Sparks Network Just last week, Sparks Network welcomed three new members to its fold: Schwartzkopff TV of Germany, Japan’s Collaboration, Inc. and Pelican, a newly created Russian outfit. They join some 20 production companies already affiliated with Sparks, a …

Tween Hit-Maker Dan Schneider A self-professed kid at heart—actually he says he’s always going to be that cutup in class making fun of the teacher—Dan Schneider has the uncanny ability to be able to get into kids’ heads and think, …

President and CEO Dori Media Group   Dori Media Group has coined a phrase for the kind of titles it is offering on the international market: “new-velas.” The term reflects the company’s ambition to refresh and renew the telenovela genre, …

COO & President CME   April 2009   Central European Media Enterprises (CME) was founded in 1994 by Ronald Lauder and has become the leading broadcast group in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, with stations in seven countries—Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech …

Chief Executive Southern Star  April 2009 One of the biggest pieces of news from the media business that wasn’t about plunging profits or drastic cuts came earlier this year when Endemol announced it was acquiring the Southern Star Group from …

  CEO RTL Group   When RTL Television launched, in 1984, as RTL Plus, it brought German viewers a lot more than an alternative to the state broadcasters ARD and ZDF. It offered hit series from the U.S. networks and …

April 2009 CEO De Agostini Group   The De Agostini Group is active in 66 countries and focuses on four businesses: publishing, media, games and financial services. Last November, Lorenzo Pellicioli announced the creation of the new company Zodiak Entertainment, …

Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment & Universal Media Studios First with his own company, Reveille, and now at NBC Universal, Ben Silverman has built a career in finding quality programming concepts—both scripted and non-scripted—and adapting them to the U.S. market. He has …

President NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions. Under Bonnie Hammer’s leadership, USA Network, home to hit shows such as Monk, Psych and Burn Notice, has become the leading general-entertainment cable channel in the U.S. Its sister network SCI …

When the satellite platform Sky launched on February 5, 1989, with Sky Channel; Sky Movies; Eurosport; and Sky News, Europe’s first 24-hour news channel, British viewers had no idea what more was coming. The number of channels rapidly multiplied, and …