Boardroom Media (CEO News)
At CEO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top New York based CEO’ operating in the TV space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected]
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Zach Lebeau
CEO & Founder of Breaker (SingularDTV)
At 17, Zach took part in an expedition to the Amazon rainforest. For two months he traveled 1,100 miles on the Napo, Yasuni and Amazon rivers assisting with various research projects and interacting with indigenous tribes. The experience left a powerful impression on Zach and he spent the next 15 years living and traveling abroad to more than 50 countries on 5 continents. Growing into adulthood “on the road”, Zach became familiar with various international business structures and practices, finding a way to meld his artistic pursuits with his commercial ones. He wrote his first novel, MONKEY ME, solo sailing thousands of miles in the Caribbean and produced several music albums in Europe. He and DJ Vajdai Vilmos were the first to fuse Hungarian folk and electronica to critical acclaim with their debut album ETCHNO. Their follow up hit, ROMANO TRIP- the fusion of electronica with Gypsy folk- sold from New York to Tokyo and established a new world sound. Zach also launched an animated television series on prime-time Hungarian television which was later spun into a movie that reached number 1 at the box office there. He then went to work for the Crystal Group of Companies, an international development conglomerate, where he oversaw the management of various industrial and commercial properties in the countries of Ghana, UAE and the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Dominica. He was also a principle in an alternative energy start-up in West Africa. Moving back to the United States at 32, Zach wrote and directed his first feature film, THE SCIENTIST, starring Bill Sage. He then launched a women’s luxury clothing line, building the brand from 4 stores to 110 throughout the United States and Canada. Selling his fashion interest in 2014, Zach moved to New York to become part of the decentralization movement, produce an independent film he wrote entitled ZORRA starring Ben Kingsley and launch the epic sci-fi fantasy adventure series SINGULAR.
Follow Zach Lebeau:
About Breaker (SingularDTV), Ethereum Foundation: A decentralized global distribution platform empowers artists with a fairer, transparent monetization model through blockchain technology.
Steven Swartz
President & CEO of Hearst Communications
Steven R. Swartz became president and chief executive officer of Hearst Corporation on June 1, 2013. Before his promotion to CEO, Swartz, a member of the Board of Directors of Hearst Corporation and a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust, was president and chief operating officer of the Corporation. He was president of Hearst Newspapers, the operating group responsible for Hearst’s newspapers, local digital marketing services businesses and directories, from 2009 to 2011, and executive vice president of the Group from 2001 to 2008. Hearst Newspapers, with more than 4,700 employees across the nation, publishes 15 dailies and 36 weeklies in cities including Houston, San Francisco, San Antonio and Albany. It also operates digital marketing services and directories businesses under the LocalEdge brand. Before joining Hearst in 2001, Swartz was president and chief executive of SmartMoney, the magazine, website and custom publishing business launched by Hearst and News Corp.’s Dow Jones unit. Prior to becoming CEO in 1995, he had been the magazine’s founding editor since 1991. Under his leadership, SmartMoney magazine won two National Magazine Awards and was Advertising Age’s Magazine of the Year. Swartz began his journalism career as a reporter with The Wall Street Journal in 1984 after graduating from Harvard. He served as an editor on the Journal’s Page One staff from 1989 to 1991. Swartz is a member of the ESPN board of directors and is a director of the Associated Press. He is also a member of the board of visitors of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a member of the board of directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund.
Follow Steven Swartz:
About Hearst Communications: Hearst is large private diversified media, information, and services company with more than 360 businesses
Desiree Gruber
CEO of Full Picture
Desiree Gruber has parlayed lifelong interests in fashion, culture, art, entertainment, and technology into a thriving media empire. With her agency, Full Picture, as a foundation, Gruber embodies the modern entrepreneurial spirit. Gruber has been instrumental in building some of the world’s most prestigious brands and properties, ranging from 15 years with Victoria’s Secret to the launch of three hotels with Ian Schrager, as well as guiding the careers of high-profile personalities including Heidi Klum and creating the hit television show Project Runway. Gruber’s career first took shape at Rogers & Cowan, a national public relations agency, where she rose to Vice President of Entertainment and managed various publicity and marketing accounts within the entertainment, music, fashion, and beauty industries while spearheading the overall growth of the firm’s New York office. It was during her tenure there that she helped to conceptualize and develop the landmark Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, an annual project in which she remains an integral partner. Establishing her own agency, Full Picture, in 1999, Gruber set out to synergize the traditionally separate fields of public relations, management, and production. Under her guidance, Full Picture has become a creative force and evolved into a full-fledged multimedia company at the crossroads of the fashion and lifestyle industries. Its many successes include Lifetime’s Project Runway and the trendsetting HSN shopping shows Curations with Stefani Greenfield. Gruber also works with online portals such as MSN and top-line brands including Kraft, Special K and Tylenol to create award-winning branded entertainment. Gruber’s expertise in marketing and branding campaigns, for which she has received over twenty awards, has positioned her among the most respected figures within the media industry. Her experience in forecasting and developing trends has also helped her create an innovative approach to producing original film, television and Internet programming. She was selected as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs of 2010, and has received a Peabody Award and eight Emmy nominations for executive producing Project Runway. Ms. Gruber has been awarded an official Mayor’s Proclamation by the City of New York for her professional and civic accomplishments. She serves on the Boards of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in New York and God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that delivers nutritious, freshly prepared meals to people living with HIV/AIDS or other serious illnesses. She has been profiled in such publications as O: The Oprah Magazine, Variety, New York magazine, Gotham and PR Week.
Follow Desiree Gruber:
About Full Picture, Modelinia: An award-winning, bi-coastal agency with a team of highly creative individuals who live and work at the crossroad of fashion
David Downey
Chief Executive Officer of INVIDI Technologies
Dave Downey is the Chief Executive Officer at INVIDI Technologies.
Follow David Downey:
About INVIDI Technologies: INVIDI Technologies offers Advatar, an application that delivers addressable targeted advertising and marketing messages to viewers.
Bruce J. Anderson
Co-CEO & Global CTO of INVIDI Technologies
Bruce Anderson is the Co-CEO & Global CTO at INVIDI Technologies.
Follow Bruce J. Anderson:
About INVIDI Technologies: INVIDI Technologies offers Advatar, an application that delivers addressable targeted advertising and marketing messages to viewers.
Robert Bakish
President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom
Bob Bakish is president and CEO of Viacom, home to global entertainment brands including Paramount Pictures, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and BET, and the leading free-streaming TV service in the U.S., Pluto TV. In August 2019, Viacom and CBS announced an agreement to merge. Upon completion, Bakish will become president and CEO of the combined company, ViacomCBS. He was appointed to his current role in 2016 after leading Viacom International Media Networks since 2007. In this position, he doubled revenues and guided a significant expansion of the company’s international footprint. He joined Viacom in 1997 after serving as a partner with Booz Allen & Hamilton. A graduate of Columbia’s business and engineering schools, Bakish is on the boards of both and is a director on the board of AVID Technologies.
Follow Robert Bakish:
About Viacom, ViacomCBS: Viacom is an American media conglomerate specializing in cable, satellite television networks, and cinema.
Leslie Moonves
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation
Leslie Moonves is President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, one of the world’s leading media enterprises. In this role, he oversees all operations of the Company, including the CBS Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Global Distribution Group (CBS Studios International and CBS Television Distribution), CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS Films, CBS Interactive, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, Pop (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate), Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. Moonves came to CBS in 1995 as President of Entertainment, after serving as president of Warner Bros. Television, where his team developed hit shows like Friends and ER. Once at CBS, Moonves and his team took the Network from last to first place in the ratings, launching hit shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, Survivor, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Moonves was promoted to President and CEO of CBS Television in 1998 and became Chairman in 2003. He was later named Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom and Chairman of CBS in 2004, overseeing domestic and international broadcast television operations as well as its radio division and outdoor advertising operations. In 2006, when Viacom split its businesses into two publicly traded companies, Moonves was named President and CEO of the newly formed CBS Corporation, which has since been one of the best-performing companies in media. Under Moonves’ direction, the CBS Television Network has been #1 in viewers for 12 of the last 13 years, and currently has television’s #1 drama, NCIS; television’s #1 comedy, The Big Bang Theory; television’s #1 news program, 60 Minutes; as well as time period-leading shows on virtually every night of the week. At the same time, the Company’s premium cable service, Showtime Networks, has generated millions of new subscribers on the heels of its successful owned series, such as Ray Donovan, House of Lies, Dexter and The Affair, as well as the critically acclaimed, Emmy- and Golden-Globe-Award-winning series Homeland. The Company’s push to sell its shows around the world has made international distribution sales a significant revenue source, with CBS content licensed to more than 200 markets in more than 30 languages across multiple media platforms. That emphasis on exploiting content has also enabled CBS to strike lucrative, multiyear deals with the industry’s biggest online distributors, including Netflix and Amazon. CBS’s other divisions have also been robust under Moonves’ leadership, including interactive media. The Company’s acquisition of CNET, Inc. in 2008 helped make CBS Interactive the premier online content network for information and entertainment, with more than 280 million people from around the world visiting its websites each month. In publishing, Simon & Schuster routinely releases hundreds of New York Times bestsellers every year, including dozens that make it to #1, and is the publishing home of some of the world’s most recognized and prize-winning authors. Simon & Schuster is also a leader in digital publishing, with titles available across all major platforms and formats. In local broadcasting, CBS-owned TV stations are among the most-watched in the country, and CBS Radio is home to the most-listened-to radio stations in the U.S. By distinguishing CBS as a producer and seller of world-class content across all mediums, Moonves has helped CBS Corporation grow in value, revenue and market share while identifying and developing key new revenue streams for future growth.
Follow Leslie Moonves:
About CBS Corporation, CBS Records: CBS Corporation is a mass media company that creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world.
Matthew C. Blank
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Showtime
Follow Matthew C. Blank:
About Showtime: Showtime is an American premium cable and satellite television network.
Peter Markham
Chief Executive Officer of Estrella Media
Follow Peter Markham:
About Estrella Media: LBI Media engages in the ownership and operation of Spanish-language radio and television.
William Johnson
Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nielsen
Follow William Johnson:
About Nielsen: Nielsen provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy.
Lance Neuhauser
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of 4C Insights
Lance Neuhauser is CEO at 4C Insights
Follow Lance Neuhauser:
About 4C Insights, The Echo System: Scope by 4C™ is the leading self-service intelligence platform for marketers to drive business outcomes across closed ecosystems.
Peter Low
President & Chief Executive Officer of Ensequence
Peter Low, Ensequence’s president and chief executive officer, has an extensive background in television spanning more than 25 years with expertise in programming and distribution. Before joining Ensequence, Low was executive vice president of cable distribution and marketing for MTV Networks and BET Networks, where he led cable distribution efforts for all 26 of the MTV and BET branded channels. In addition, Low was responsible for negotiating all large distribution agreements and developed the strategy that resulted in the most extensive digital channel launch in the industry. Prior to his position with MTV and BET, Low served as vice president of programming for CableVision.
Follow Peter Low:
About Ensequence: Ensequence provides solutions that enable programmers, advertisers and distributors to create and deploy interactive TV experiences.
Rachel Silver
Founder & CEO of Love Stories TV
Follow Rachel Silver:
About Love Stories TV: Love Stories TV is a video-powered marketplace for wedding planning.
Michael Swinger
CEO of Weston Swinger Media Holdings Inc.
Micheal Swinger, CEO : is a music executive, record producer, distributor, and executive producer. His career as a music and entertainment veteran spans 30 years. He spent his early years as a young pioneering business entrepreneur in the early stages of the Hip-Hop and Urban Music industry. Growing up in Queens New York he honed his skills as music business administrator and promoter working alongside some of Hip-Hop’s legends. As an independent consultant, Swinger quickly moved into the arena of artist development and promotions, Mike earned his notoriety producing artist showcases and landing radio play for the artists he showcased. He became the ear to the street man for music executives looking for new talent. Over the 30 year span of his career he has earned the respect of major record label top executives like Sony, Relativity Records, RED Distribution as well as all of the major urban radio stations. With the rise of the indie & digital music market, Michael Swinger founded and launched his boutique agency Hot Trackz Entertainment. He has gained international notoriety for his prowess in the arena of Artist Development, Music Production, Project Management, A&R, Radio Promotions, Film Soundtrack Production, Branding and Identity Coordination, Casting, Product Placement/Marketing. Working alongside his long time industry colleague and friend Rodrick Weston, they have created partnerships on various productions from music to film. Together, they formed Weston + Swinger Media Holdings Inc. which specializes in building brands, increasing the value and bridging the gap for their clients. “Many indie recording artists, indie film directors and entrepreneurs have amazing talent and ideas, but don’t know how to cultivate their careers. They don’t have direct connections to investors, record labels, film distributors or corporate marketing executives. We give them the 360 brand ready preparation and help them land successful partnerships.” says Swinger.
Follow Michael Swinger:
About Weston Swinger Media Holdings Inc.: A fully functional Media company dealing in Film, TV, Event Planning via Commercials space and Full Production.
Alexander Libby
Founder & CEO of ProductionPro
Alexander Libby is a Founder at ProductionPro.
Follow Alexander Libby:
About ProductionPro: ProductionPro is an entertainment technology company focused on improving creative collaboration in Film, TV, and Theatre production.
Al Roker
CEO of Al Roker Entertainment
Follow Al Roker:
About Al Roker Entertainment: Al Roker Entertainment is a leading producer of original, award winning TV programs and digital content for the world’s best brands.
Al Roker
CEO of Al Roker Entertainment
Follow Al Roker:
About Al Roker Entertainment: Al Roker Entertainment is a leading producer of original, award winning TV programs and digital content for the world’s best brands.
William L. Yde
CEO of Global Traffic Network
Follow William L. Yde:
About Global Traffic Network: Global Traffic Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNET) is the leading provider of custom traffic and news reports to radio and television stations
Sean Cunningham
President and CEO of VAB
Sean Cunningham is the president and CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), one of the advertising industry’s leading trade associations. Since his appointment in June of 2003, he first completely transformed the CAB (Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau) from an informational bureau to a direct-to-client television advocacy group with the strategy of presenting the medium’s many investment options dramatically to advertisers and their agencies; then in May of 2015 Sean evolved the CAB to become the VAB, a move that has been extremely well received by the advertising industry. Prior to his role at the CAB and now VAB, his eighteen-year career was marked by several senior management positions with some of the most respected companies in the advertising industry. Cunningham was executive vice president & managing director at Universal McCann in New York. During his tenure, he was responsible for the management of four of the agency’s strategic operating units. He played an integral role in helping to lead the firm during a tremendous period of new business growth. His stint culminated with Universal McCann being named “Agency of the Year” for its 2002 performance by both leading industry trades publications Advertising Age and Adweek.
Follow Sean Cunningham:
About VAB: VAB navigates the data-fueled world through industry-defining insights & custom analyses, addressing challenges, & inspiring conversations.
Christy Tanner
CEO of TV Guide
CEO with expertise building businesses that connect with consumers; creating successful mobile, social products; and media business turnarounds. Transformed TVGuide.com and TV Guide Mobile — as an independent digital business unit — into a profitable business with a world-class team, blockbuster products, and strong industry partnerships. Results include the category’s largest smartphone and tablet apps with the most-engaged users, 6 consecutive years of double-digit growth, and an AdAge Vanguard Award for the Watchlist, a personalized, reinvented TV Guide.
Follow Christy Tanner:
About TV Guide: TV Guide is an online entertainment portal covering TV listings, movies, celebrities, photos and more.
Dyllan McGee
CEO & Executive Producer of McGee Media
I just launched a digital video and broadcast initiative, MAKERS: Women Who Make America. The entire project took eight years to get off the ground, which in itself is a Lean In moment, but oddly, not my defining Lean In moment. If someone had followed me with a camera during my college years (thankfully, that didn’t happen), I would have been caught on tape saying, “I’m not a feminist, but…” At the time, I didn’t really know the story of the women’s movement. Yet, I was raised to have it all and be it all and though I’m modest, I have come pretty close to hitting that mark. I have a job that I love, a husband who shares the household chores equally (if not more) and two young boys I get lots of help rearing, but who also have both their Mom and Dad present for most school functions. In many ways, this was just how I imagined it would be. I grew up watching That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, and I can still recite most of Free to Be You and Me. I spent my early years in New York City never feeling restrained as a woman, went to college, got married, had kids and assumed this is how my life would be and how it has always been. It wasn’t until I listened to the MAKERS stories that I understood where these privileges came from; I was a product of the women’s movement without even knowing what the women’s movement was. As I compared notes with my peers, I realized I wasn’t alone. As much as I was emboldened by my freedoms, I was also saddened that not everyone has been able to realize those same ambitions; the hard work of many women still goes overlooked. I would like to say I embarked on MAKERS for exactly that reason, but the truth is, I embarked on it because I am a filmmaker and I thought it would be a good story. But as the project has come to a conclusion, as much as it has been professionally successful, it has been personally transformative. I realized it’s easy to sit back and believe in change, but not stand up for it; standing up takes effort and risk, and that can be uncomfortable. Shelby Knox, the young feminist organizer, says at the end of the film, “I don’t care if a woman calls herself a turtle and she’s doing pro-equality work—the work is being done.” While she is right, and I agree you don’t have to label yourself a feminist to help women in this world, there is an incredible sense of gratitude I feel towards what these women have done. We ask every interviewee, “Are you a feminist?” The answers are fascinating and complex. But mine is very simple. I’m leaning in and telling the world, “I am a feminist!”
Follow Dyllan McGee:
About McGee Media: McGee Media produces documentary content that uses television, film and digital media in radical.
Jan Umansky
CEO & Founder of Twizted Design
Follow Jan Umansky:
About Twizted Design: Twizted Design is a software solutions company for graphics production in marketing, advertising, media, entertainment and beyond.
Chris Phoenix
Founder and CEO of Phoenix Media Group
Follow Chris Phoenix:
About Phoenix Media Group: Creative Agency + Production Company
Kiryl Sidarchuk
CEO of Oyper
Forbes Business Council Member
Follow Kiryl Sidarchuk:
About Oyper: Oyper creates AI to make social networks and movies shoppable
Eva Radke
Founder, CEO of ArtCube Nation
Follow Eva Radke:
About ArtCube Nation: ArtCube Nation is a professional network dedicated to the unique needs of freelance creatives and enterprises in film, print and events.
