December 1, 2008

CableFAX: 2. Jocks ‘n’ Rock: Anne Sweeney, George Bodenheimer

Anne Sweeney
Title: Co-Chair, Disney Media Group; Pres, Disney-ABC Television Group
Last Year: #5
Age: Same as last year, plus 1
Education: College of New Rochelle, BA; Harvard U, Ed. M.

George Bodenheimer
Title: Co-Chair, Disney Media Grp; Pres, ESPN/ABC Sports
Last Year: #13
Age: 50
Education: Denison U, BA, Economics

Anne Sweeney
Why Her? High School Musical 1, 2 and 3. Camp Rock. Hannah Montana. The Jonas Brothers. Does anyone doubt Sweeney’s rock sensibilities? If ratings were record sales, Sweeney would be sitting atop the biggest, baddest label empire on Sunset Blvd. Consider: The telecast of HSM2 drew a whopping 10.8 share, an all-time cable telecast record when it premiered over the summer. It was so big that Disney opted to premiere HSM3 in theaters. Meanwhile, the July premiere of Camp Rock bagged a 5.6 share, even though it’s a brand new franchise. Sweeney is one reason why Disney still rocks.

Year Ahead:
Disney will use its promotional muscle to steal market share from weaker competitors as the economy flounders in ’09.

Drink of Choice: Depends on what the ratings look like

Favorite Part of My Job: Challenging people to create what’s next

Philosophy of Life: Act as if you know you can’t fail

Favorite Word: Imagine

Least Favorite Word: Can’t

The Trait I Most Admire in People: Optimism

George Bodenheimer
Why Him? Why not? Bodenheimer’s nurturing of creativity and collaboration helps make the sports giant a winning franchise. The soft-spoken Cable Hall of Famer’s talent has made Bristol the leader in serving sports fans, yet he always seems to be seeking additional properties, whether it be cricket on ESPN360.com or poker on the flagship net. Bodenheimer’s dual role with ABC Sports has engendered even more exposure for ESPN, marketing that will likely prove beneficial as it attempts to sign additional prestigious properties. First there was Monday Night Football. Next? The Olympics exclusively on cable?

Year Ahead:
Ad sales may slow, but ESPN never has a bad year, does it?

Favorite Part of My Job:  Working on a life's passion—sports—along with 6000 other employees

Best Business Advice Received:  Don't wait for a memo from the corner office to manage your career

My Company Is Preparing For The Future By:  Anticipating sports fans' wants and needs

Favorite Word: Value

Favorite Sports Team: All of them

MG, CH

Return to the 2008 CableFAX 100 table of contents.