Cablefax The Magazine - December 2012 - 24

40. AMERICAN
SUCCESS STORY
John Landgraf
Title: President/GM, FX Network
Number of Years in Cable: Is it
9 years?
Education: BA, Pitzer College
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Fear has no
purpose in business.
Why Him? One of cable's most direct execs,
Landgraf abhors the canned corporate-speak that
dominates interviews. It's why he's become a darling
among reporters who cover TV and now, with the
confidence that comes with a string of successful
hits, Landgraf's sessions at TCA are journalistic
catnip, providing rare insight into his world. This sum41.
THE PHONE GUYS
Terry Denson
Title: VP, Content and Programming,
Verizon
Jeff Weber
Title: President, Content and
Advertising Sales, AT&T
Number of Years in Cable: 8
Education: BBA, Mgt Info Systems,
Univ. of Oklahoma; Master of Management,
Kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Northwestern University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Build
great products.
Why Them? That relentless knocking the cable
industry hears in its sleep? We have Weber and
mer he admitted to having heated arguments with
showrunners, second-guessed himself on allowing
the oft-discussed rape on " Rescue Me, " and decried
the bidding wars for off-network series like " Big Bang
Theory. " While he still reads every script and watches
all outtakes, he's a careful risk taker, not a meddler.
" We like to let people make their shows, " he says.
His portfolio of edgy hits- " Rescue Me, " Sons of
Anarchy, " " American Horror Story, " and " Louie " -
proves that. As does his bet on Charlie Sheen and
" Anger Management, " which averaged 4 million
viewers. Only after its 10 summer episodes had run
did Landgraf renew it, for a whopping 90 episodes.
Gangnam Style or Mozart: Mozart: 250 years
and still going strong. Gangnam Style: 250MM
hits and gone forever.
What's the one thing you tell your kids
about success in life: I tell my kids " You will
Denson to thank for it. These two innovators have
worked toward agreements to satisfy both sports and
entertainment customer desires. Weber, for example,
recently announced the first TV Everywhere offering
for AT&T U-verse, so customers can now access an
expanded lineup of episodes from BET, Comedy Central,
MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike and VH1 on demand
or on the Web. Denson recently announced Verizon's
offering of BTN2Go, a live 24/7 multi-platform extension
of Big Ten Networks to its FiOS TV subscribers.
Denson
Favorite fictional character? Gatsby
I'd give up my cell phone for a week if...
Anyone would notice.
My trick for keeping my email inbox from
filling up? More capacity.
My favorite restaurant: Colonie in Brooklyn, N.Y.
What I tell my kids about success in life:
42. FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Bob DeBitetto
Title: President/GM, A&E Network and BIO Channel
Number of Years in Cable:
Education:
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less:
Why Him? DeBitetto clearly likes a good challenge.
It's not enough that A&E finished Q1 this year with its
best-ever quarter among key demos and was on track
24
cablefaxmag.com
December 2012
get out of life what you put into it-by the end of
our lives, we all will understand that there is no
exception to this universal law. "
An important lesson from my youth: I worked
at a Lumber Mill for six summers from the age
of 16 to 22. My hardest day at work in television
was easier than my easiest day of work at
Precision Pine.
Why isn't TV Everywhere... everywhere
yet? It is incredibly expensive to make great
television-so-called disrupters have no viable
model for supporting the economics of premium
content creation, and it takes time for incumbent
businesses to restructure around new distribution
models.
I'd give up my cell phone for a week if...
I'd gladly give up my cell phone for a week if I
possibly could.
Eat well, perform acts of kindness and check
your work.
Weber
Early bird or night owl? No
" The Voice " coach I'd like to work with is...
Uh, Christina.
I'd give up my cell phone for a week if... No
way, no how!
The one thing I'd do differently if I could go
back to high school: Oh, if it were only one
thing that needed changing.
My famous last words will be: Yes, you can
do video over copper.
When scientists from the future dig up a
cable system from 2012, they will conclude
that... IPTV was the right answer.
What I tell my kids about success in life: Love
what you do, and success will find you.
for its best Q2 of the network's history. Not to mention
the eight consecutive years of growth, including a
record 2011 on the merits of its primarily original slate,
a move that's shaved years off the median viewer age
from the low 60s to the mid-40s. In fact, the network
blew through an entire generation in just eight years.
DeBitetto has now set his sights on making the network
100% original in prime time by 2013. We think the
smart money's on him to succeed. And he's working his
magic with BIO, including behind-the-scenes probes of
pop culture phenomena like " Glee. "
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