December 1, 2008

CableFAX: 65. The Dean: Joe Abruzzese

Joe Abruzzese 
Title: President, Ad Sales, Discovery Communications
Last Year: #44
Age: Old enough to remember only three networks
Education: Seton Hall University — Thank God for SHU baseball!

Why Him? Since leaving CBS ad sales in ’02 to join Discovery, Abruzzese has risen to become one of the deans of programmer ad sales and has led Discovery to its most successful upfronts. Right now he’s eyeing cross-platform ad integration for new acquisition HowStuffWorks.com. He’s also closed a precedent-setting cross-platform deal with Home Depot for TLC’s Trading Spaces series.

Worth Watching: Abruzzese will play a key role in the advertising sales efforts for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Year Ahead:
A weak economy always hurts ad sales.

Restaurant: Bobby Van’s Steakhouse

Drink of Choice: Red wine — what a surprise!

Unnecessary Luxury I Like Most: Fountain pens

Favorite Show Not on My Network: nip/tuck and Two and a Half Men

Best Business Advice Received: "How you write the business is as important as the business you write." — Peter Lund, former head of CBS ad sales

Favorite Sports Teams: NY Yankees and NY Giants!

Heros: Mike Sheppard, former Seton Hall University baseball coach; and Peter Lund, former head of CBS ad sales

KF

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