It’s a disruptive time in the TV industry as shifting business models are leading to sea changes in how video content is watched, distributed and monetized. Fortunately, there’s also no shortage of rising industry stars who are up to the challenge of being creative and innovative enough to keep things moving forward.
For over a decade, Broadcasting+Cable, Multichannel News and Next TV have honored a select group of industry pros under 40 — both established veterans and up-and-comers — as part of the 40 Under 40 New York awards program.
The 40 Under 40 awards are designed to honor those at the forefront of a changing industry. Through a nomination and judging process, B+C Multichannel News has selected a group of creative, tech-savvy visionaries helping to lead media in new directions, wherever the viewers are.
The 2024 New York 40 Under 40 class will be honored at a gala party September 12, capping off Future B2B’s NYC TV Week of events, which also includes Advanced Advertising, the Hispanic Television Summit and the Next TV Summit. The 40 Under 40 awards party will take place at the 230 Fifth Rooftop at 230 5th Ave. in Manhattan.
For more information and to register, visit tvweek40under40.com.
Below, read more about the 2024 40 Under 40 New York, listed alphabetically.
Greg Barnard
Senior Director, Content Acquisitions and Strategy, Vizio
Barnard has elevated Vizio’s WatchFree Plus streaming service to the next level. With a portfolio boasting more than 300 channels and 15,000 on-demand titles, he has led negotiations with numerous media partners. He has secured exclusive content deals for acclaimed shows such as @Home with Tori, featuring Tori Spelling, and The Pantry, hosted by chef Tom Colicchio. He oversees the team responsible for negotiating and closing content, service and tech agreements for WatchFree Plus, all while unifying processes, implementing efficient project management strategies and strengthening relationships. With more than 17 years of industry experience, Barnard’s influence extends far beyond Vizio. This is evident in his roles as a founding board member for HRTS Associates NYC, adviser for Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) and mentor with the T. Howard Foundation and Ghetto Film School. Barnard’s relentless dedication and visionary approach continue to shape the future of entertainment.
Kevin Belbey
Sports Media Agent, Creative Artists Agency
Belbey represents many top sports broadcasters, including Noah Eagle (NBC Sports), Fabrizio Romano (an Italian sports journalist) and Kevin Brown (Baltimore Orioles/ESPN). He also signed former NFL stars Devin and Jason McCourty, negotiating a multiyear, seven-figure-per-year deal for Devin to join NBC Sports as an analyst for Football Night in America, and a deal for Jason to join CBS Sports as an NFL and college football game analyst, in addition to co-host of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. Belbey also hustled to sign Ian Eagle in 2022, who recently succeeded Jim Nantz as the play-by-play person for the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four for CBS Sports and TNT Sports. Upon NBC Sports’ acquisition of Big Ten media rights, Kevin orchestrated several prominent moves that would see CAA clients define NBC’s coverage, including Noah Eagle as the featured voice of NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night football package. He also represented Drew Carter in his contract to join the Boston Celtics as a play-by-play announcer.
Noella Charles
VP, Development & Original Production, Unscripted, WE tv/AllBlk
Charles has helped revitalize WE tv’s offerings, executive-producing brand-defining, celebrity-driven ensemble docuseries, including Keke Wyatt’s World, chronicling the journey of R&B/gospel artist Wyatt; Toya & Reginae, following Atlanta’s dynamic mother-daughter duo; Bold & Bougie, featuring five women determined to live unapologetically on their own terms; The Barnes Bunch, following NBA champion Matt Barnes, his fiancée, model Anansa Sims, and their blended family of six children; and Love During Lockup, about couples fighting to keep their love alive while one partner is incarcerated. While at Viacom, Charles helped lead BET’s music series 106 & Park to its highest ratings with various segments and larger awards-show initiatives and worked as a coordinating producer on MTV’s Wild ’N Out. At Fuse TV, she launched shows such as Trending 10, and was a producer for The People’s Choice Awards on E!
Beau Decker
VP, Growth Marketing, Endeavor Streaming
Decker leads a team of marketing strategists, analysts and data scientists who operate as an extension of Endeavor Streaming’s clients to help them scale their businesses through marketing, analytics, data and technology, and to drive efficiencies across acquisition, retention and monetization of direct-to-consumer businesses. He has established himself as an effective leader who is highly proficient in implementing unified business strategies that embrace the complexities of the modern media ecosystem. His unique mix of business expertise, understanding of advanced technological marketing and data capabilities and his customer-centric approach directly impacts clients’ ability to maximize the value of their direct-to-consumer streaming businesses. Decker developed the Endeavor Streaming Audience Development team as a direct result of a market challenge: Regardless of an organization’s size, OTT teams often lack the resources to run and scale a streaming service efficiently. Since its inception in 2022, the team has successfully supported a substantial number of high-profile clients, including UEFA.tv and UFC Fight Pass.
Kirby Dixon
Director, Publicity, History
Dixon has spearheaded the communications campaigns for tentpole History series including Alone, which The New Yorker recently called “the best reality series ever made;” The Harlem Hellfighters, executive produced by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts; 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers from Morgan Freeman; and The Curse of Oak Island, among others. She stands out for her thoughtful, creative and nuanced approach to every project, her co-workers said, mining each story for the significant and often untold aspects. Her never-give-up attitude has led to key placements for programming with New York Magazine, The New Yorker, MSNBC, GMA, CNN and other key media outlets. In the past year alone, Kirby has worked to gain access to some of the most high-profile U.S. government locations and officials for key press events. She facilitated a conversation between the nation’s first Black secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and Morgan Freeman at the Pentagon to discuss 761st Tank Battalion. She’s also a tireless champion for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at History and parent A+E.
Tori Fernandes
VP, Corporate Communications, The Walt Disney Co.
Fernandes has unified Disney’s narrative across its streaming, digital and linear properties as one authoritative entity, and the integrated strategy has reinvented the way the company comes to market. In January, her corporate communications team spearheaded all press for Disney’s Global Tech & Data Showcase, which took place in person for the first time at CES. The team created an intentional campaign that cascaded throughout the week. This strategic plan included a press preview with key executives and journalists; exclusive stories with various publications aligned with the timing of the showcase; six separate executive interviews and panels during the week that led up to the event; and live social media coverage that extensively followed the excitement on stage. Amid an incredibly competitive CES news cycle, Disney Advertising clinched over 50 unique headlines for exclusive feature stories and organic placements. Also helping cut through the noise was a video message from CEO Bob Iger that Fernandes helped produce.
Joe Fitzpatrick
Director, Programmatic Partnerships, NBCUniversal
Sitting at the crossroads of technology and addressable advertising, Fitzpatrick has rare knowledge of the industry landscape. Whether engaging with clients and understanding their challenges or seeing opportunities in the content provider world, his multifaceted approach to solutions has been a boon for the companies he has worked for and with. Fitzpatrick joined NBCU in June, following stints at Minute Media, USA Today Network, AP and Fox News Channel. He drives the continued adoption of automated, data-driven and programmatic media buying across NBCU’s portfolio of digital and streaming assets. Colleagues said his commitment and versatility are key character traits in establishing him as a pioneer in the programmatic world, and his personality makes for a warm presence at conferences, industry think tanks and group lunch meetings.
Chris Giliberti
Co-Founder and CEO, Avail
Giliberti launched Avail in July 2021, after he had been global head of TV and film at Spotify. Avail offers studios and talent agencies a script summarization tool and is increasingly focused on the content/intellectual property licensing and AI search space. In July, Avail launched Corpus, which enables creators and media rightsholders to license their work to AI model developers. Corpus leverages collective scale to get smaller publishers and creators in on the licensing action. Giliberti’s background in TV and film has made him well-versed in the painstaking process of producing successful series and movies and the so-called “pain points” that can be addressed to make production faster and better. He has emerged as a key figure at the intersection of Silicon Valley and Hollywood and an increasingly trusted voice in that relationship.
Alexander Groysman
VP, Advertising Product Development, Spectrum Reach
Groysman has been instrumental in bringing innovative products to the advanced advertising space. He oversees 20 diverse product managers and analysts emerging as leaders, and has authored two patents related to the converging linear and digital TV ecosystems and enablement of transparent marketplaces for premium TV media. He has been a key leader in transforming Spectrum Reach, the ad-sales business of Charter Communications, to adopt programmatic technologies and expand the availability of addressable targeting solutions in a privacy-compliant manner to better service customert. Groysman also leads several initiatives around measuring and optimizing supply quality and performance attribution, ensuring that every campaign is executed and optimized against the best media possible. In a remarkable step forward for linear addressable advertising and the industry, Groysman and his team found a way to expand linear addressable multicast ad inventory, where many people view the same network feed.
Shannon Guarascio
Senior Manager, CBS Affiliate Relations
Guarascio’s resilience in navigating challenges in an ever-evolving television landscape, whether it’s broadcast rights or pivoting strategies to keep original programming at its peak during the writers and actors strikes of 2023, proves she can thrive amid any obstacles. She has spent 15 years at CBS. Due to her efforts to ramp up promotion with affiliates for February’s Super Bowl, it was the highest-viewed network broadcast of all time, with more than 120 million viewers tuning in. Guarascio is now working in a hybrid role of overseeing and managing affiliates in addition to communications and operations for CBS Affiliate Relations. As a member of the Paramount Veterans Network, she has also supported and influenced the work between military veterans and CBS programming.
Walid Hamri
AVP, Media Systems Engineering, Sinclair
Hamri’s leadership in engineering next-generation media systems creates substantial opportunities for content creators, producers and broadcasters, encouraging them to move away from legacy operating models. His work to create more adaptable media ecosystems allows media organizations such as broadcast giant Sinclair to innovate by leveraging the latest technologies. He has designed and
helped architect massively scaled distribution systems, capitalized on emerging cloud capabilities to drive media supply-chain optimization, and harnessed the latest in
media signaling to streamline media operations. Prior to joining Sinclair, Hamri was chief product officer at SeaChange International, where he led the product and solution team in promoting the multiscreen Video Delivery Platform. Before that, he was VP of solutions & business development at Ateme, a specialist in video compression and delivery solutions. He holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Grenoble Institute of Technology in France.
Christina Haubrock
Senior VP, Advertising Strategy, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships
Haubrock conceptualizes and develops new ad products for NBCUniversal’s Peacock and its additional streaming assets. Regularly reimagining the advertising experience to maximize effectiveness, she acts on behalf of two customers: the viewer and the advertiser. By creating custom ad experiences for different types of content and introducing innovative ad formats, she plays a critical role in rewriting the advertising playbook, driving ultimate engagement for consumers and meaningful impact for marketers. Prior to Peacock launching in 2020, she was an integral voice in architecting NBCU’s AVOD vision and has evolved the go-to-market strategy as the streamer has scaled. In 2022, Haubrock
helped bring NBCU’s streaming portfolio to market with Peacock Premier, leveraging Peacock’s premium AVOD platform to deliver maximum impact for clients; and Peacock “AX” (Audience Extension), leveraging the entire footprint of NBCU’s streaming assets to deliver maximum reach.
Alix Hoberman
Managing Director, Sales, LG Ad Solutions
Hoberman joined LG Ad Solutions in 2021 and has become integral to the company’s business, helping to build and develop LG’s Media & Entertainment East Coast sales efforts. When she joined LG, Hoberman was a senior account executive coordinating and managing advertising campaigns for smart-TV ad inventory — and she quickly proved to be a rising star, developing positive relationships throughout the organization, and with clients such as Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, BET, Fubo, Pluto, A&E and the NBA. She also fostered several key agency relationships, including with Horizon Media and Hearts & Science. Hoberman now takes the lead on many go-to-market sales packages, collaborating with marketing and sales and contributing to the development of LG Ad Solutions’ measurement strategies. She oversees a team of sellers responsible for more than $30 million in revenue — a 200% increase compared to her first year with the company.
Isaac Holub
Co-Founder and Head of Development, Lucky 8
Holub has played a crucial role in establishing Lucky 8, one of the unscripted industry’s most successful fully-independent production shops. Lucky 8 shows include Unlocked: A Jail Experiment, which premiered on Netflix in the spring and highlights a daring approach to the challenges of incarceration. Holub is an executive producer on the show and is also behind two of History’s That Built America franchises: He launched Season 5 of The Food That Built America in early 2024 and will launch Season 2 of The Mega-Brands That Built America later this year. In 2023, Holub was integral to the creation, development and sale of Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper for Disney Plus and Booked: First Day In for A&E. Holub also executive produces Nat Geo’s long-running hit To Catch a Smuggler. He was a producer at National Geographic prior to co-founding Lucky 8, where he produced Brain Games, Border Wars and American Weed, among other shows.
Annmarie Hordern
Anchor/Chief Political Correspondent, Bloomberg
Hordern is a co-anchor on the Bloomberg Television morning show Surveillance, where the anchors’ “daily conversations with leaders and decision-makers from Wall Street to Washington and beyond cover the latest in business, investment and geopolitics,” the network said. She conducts interviews with world leaders and newsmakers, including the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Russian Federation. She also serves as chief political correspondent. In addition to her work with Bloomberg Television, Hordern has contributed to Bloomberg.com, Quicktake and Bloomberg Businessweek, among other platforms. In 2022, she wrote a Bloomberg Businessweek piece sharing a personal story on efforts to evacuate a colleague’s family following the collapse of Afghanistan. Prior to her work on Surveillance, Hordern co-anchored the politics and policies program Balance of Power. Before that, she was the executive producer for Bloomberg TV’s EMEA newsroom, managing a team of more than a dozen producers from Dubai to London.
Lawrence Jones
Co-Host, Fox & Friends, Fox News Channel
Jones was the youngest Black man to helm a solo program in cable news history when Lawrence Jones Cross Country launched on Fox News Channel. The program saw him talk to people across the country who often feel like their voices are not heard. He spotlighted local stories that spoke to larger issues, such as gun violence and the fentanyl crisis plaguing the United States. During his time as an enterprise reporter, Lawrence traveled to 49 of the 50 states for network reports. In fall 2023, he moved up to morning program Fox & Friends, where he continues to tackle the big stories of the day and break them down in a digestible way. He has also brought a younger perspective to the program. Born the son of a teen mother in Texas, as a child Jones dreamed not of working in television, but of being a police officer.
Sean Kelly
Senior Director, Ad Sales, Vizio
Kelly joined Vizio in 2019 as a founding member of the Vizio Ads organization, tasked with establishing an East Coast ad sales presence. At the time, the region had generated zero in revenue. Since then, revenue has grown to over $135 million annually, and Kelly oversees about $110 million. His team’s clients include a diverse roster of general-market advertisers across verticals such as auto, pharma, telco, insurance and travel. Promoted to his current role in 2023, Kelly’s responsibilities include negotiating long-term commitments with several large agency holding companies based on spend volume, unique offerings and partnership benefits. During his tenure at Vizio, he was instrumental in the creation of the associate director program, which provides junior employees with professional development opportunities and management skill training. He also continues to mentor both account executives and new employees, fostering a culture of collaboration and inclusivity.
Madeline Kissel
VP, Business Development and Affiliate Relations, Viamedia
With her unique blend of rapid adaptability, innate sales skills that have closed major deals, marketing acumen that has led to successful innovative advertising campaigns and a network of cable TV industry relationships, Kissel is a visionary transforming media advertising in North America. She cultivates and manages partnerships with video service providers and advertisers, including over 60 sales partnerships across 70 cities. Viamedia’s managed services business line has seen a staggering 300% increase, evolving into one of the company’s highest profit-margin segments. Her exceptional sales insight has not only signed 20 new partners and renewed over 50, but also significantly boosted revenue while maintaining a 100% renewal rate. Kissel’s development and implementation of dynamic advertising educational content have propelled industry-wide advancement, demonstrating her exceptional ability to drive growth and foster innovation in a highly competitive industry. One of her key accomplishments has been securing a partnership with cable operator Sparklight that brought 300,000 subscribers to Viamedia.
Amanda Klecker
SVP, Marketing & Franchise, pocket.watch
Klecker is head of marketing and brand strategy for pocket.watch, the largest independent kids and family studio, working with the biggest children’s programming creators in the world to create global franchises. That includes engaging more than 1 billion subscribers and 661 billion views on YouTube alone, according to pocket.watch. She leads various teams, including marketing, franchise, press, social, e-commerce and creative, changing the way families connect with media. In the last year, Klecker paved new ground for both the creator economy and kids entertainment by driving first-of-their-kind collaborations and AI innovations with megabrands that had never before considered working with intellectual property hatched on YouTube. That includes her work with grocery brand Dole, personalized video outfit Cameo Kids and tech company Veritone. She also launched the first creator-only record label, pocket.watch Records, distributed by Universal Music Group.
Andrew Longworth
VP of Advanced TV, Innovid
Colleagues describe Longworth as an innovator and a driver of action, both of which set Innovid up well for the future. Across measurement, optimization and creative, he works with major publishers to spearhead key initiatives. His accomplishments include bringing interactive ads to the Super Bowl; closing the measurement/optimization gap with Instant Optimization, which allows advertisers to immediately optimize ad performance in flight; and making granular, cross-platform measurement more accessible to local advertisers. Longworth’s ability to demystify complex technology and strategy has made him an invaluable asset within Innovid and the broader ad tech industry. In 2024, he continues to be laser-focused on sell-side innovation. He will be behind big news around new ad experiences during live events, real-time optimization initiatives at scale and the global expansion of Innovid’s measurement footprint. He also works to support sell-side players in their efforts to embrace AI initiatives.
Adam Lynch
Advanced Advertising Systems Engineer, Viamedia
Co-workers describe Lynch as someone with an innovative spirit to go with his unparalleled resilience and technical acumen. With more than 14 years of technical experience, he holds a remarkable eight patents. He has architected multiple one-of-a-kind advertising solutions that bridge linear and digital advertising, serving 70 pay TV providers in 27 states and placing over 1 million ads daily. Born with dyslexia and ADHD and being on the spectrum, Lynch has harnessed these conditions as unique strengths. His ability to break down complex problems into manageable tasks has led to innovative solutions and technological advancements that many deemed impossible. His knack for seeing processes amidst chaos drives unprecedented creativity and problem-solving, making him an invaluable asset to Viamedia. His projects include the creation, development and implementation of QTT, which integrates the digital ecosystem with premium linear cable TV ads; and innovations within dynamic ad insertion, with the development and implementation of Viamedia’s Parrot ADS.
Zachary Malet
Senior Director, Sports Business Development & Innovation, ESPN
What his colleagues describe as Malet’s relentless pursuit of innovation comes from introducing groundbreaking ideas directly to sports fans. He has played a pivotal role in ESPN’s alternative broadcasts, spearheading the live, animated NHL Big City Greens Classic — the first telecast of its kind. His role also involves negotiating and overseeing ESPN’s extensive portfolio of third-party business agreements/partnerships, with a keen emphasis on driving strategic innovation, maximizing revenue and fostering crucial technology partnerships. Malet’s expertise has led to the successful negotiation of several multimillion-dollar deals for the sports giant. His tenure since 2012 has been marked by significant contributions across various divisions, including Disney Platform Distribution, where he managed distribution of Disney properties (including ABC, ESPN and Disney Plus) with cable and streaming partners, and in the content strategy and college sports groups at ESPN programming and acquisitions.
Rachel Marcus Fawkes
Director of Content and Editorial, Amagi
Marcus Fawkes got her start at ESPN shooting and editing video. While at ESPN, she pushed for video tech beyond the realms of cable, making sure younger users could access video through their phones and tablets before that behavior was the norm. She covered the NBA Finals, College Football Playoff, NBA draft, College World Series and X Games while at ESPN, among other giant sports events. Marcus Fawkes shifted to Wynn Resorts, where she was director of content, and joined Amagi in July 2023. She is currently building and leading content marketing strategy for the company, a leader in unified cloud workflows for TV and OTT. She also spearheads Amagi’s Airtime webinar series and quarterly FAST industry report. A Syracuse grad, Marcus Fawkes worked at SNY earlier in her career, where her role included covering ’Cuse sports.
Sean Mathew
VP, Media Director Investments, Mediahub
After working to invigorate brands like Google/YouTube and Kohler, Mathew joined Mediahub as a supervisor on the video investments team in 2019 for a new challenge: going beyond “spots and dots” media buying to harness the power of data-driven storytelling to drive key business results. Since then, he’s been working with brands across a variety of sectors, including entertainment, retail and financial services. Focusing on Mediahub’s Navy Federal Credit Union and Netflix accounts, he negotiated a unique promotion for Netflix’s Your Place of Mine on ABC’s The Bachelor. Mathew takes an active role in both agency and personal team development. He meets weekly with his team, dedicating time to training and mentorship, and often shelling out any useful financial and investing tips that he learns outside of his industry expertise. A testament to his leadership is his team’s minimal turnover rate — 90% retention over the last three years.
Bill Melugin
Correspondent, Fox News
Melugin joined Fox News Channel in 2021 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent after a stint as an investigative reporter at Fox-owned KTTV Los Angeles. He has spent several hundred days reporting from the U.S.’s southern border, breaking a number of stories. In 2022, Melugin was one of the first national reporters on the scene at Robb Elementary School following the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Some of his notable reporting included an interview with a grandfather of a missing child and dispelling rumors the suspect was being chased by U.S. Border Patrol prior to the shooting. During his time at KTTV, his reporting appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and The Ingraham Angle, among other Fox News programs. Melugin always strives to bring the human element into the stories he covers. In 2023, he was profiled in the Los Angeles Times and described as a “rising star” for his well-sourced and dedicated coverage.
Heidi Meyers
Director of Marketing, AMC Networks
Meyers is a neuroscience researcher-turned-digital marketer who brings a unique perspective to strategy. She is a proven expert at cultivating the fandoms behind AMC’s shows, and her work on the launches of Mayfair Witches and Interview With the Vampire, as well as Season 2 of Dark Winds, drove critical praise and ratings. Meyers got her start in digital media at an online dating company, which offered her a unique look at consumer behavior. She moved to WebMD, where she led paid-media strategy for pharma clients, government agencies and household brands such as Johnson & Johnson. Shifting to HBO, where she was digital and social media coordinator, she worked on the content strategy for Game of Thrones, Westworld and Mosaic, among other series. She also founded a microcontent firm that specialized in branding strategy and content creation for live events, from local improv to national theater tours. She joined AMC Networks in 2021, where she pioneers e-commerce strategy, launching fan-centric campaigns such as “Best Fandom Ever.”
Ryan Murray
Senior Manager, Content Distribution, Roku
Murray oversees the development and negotiation of app and channel partnerships across SVOD, AVOD and FAST business lines on the Roku platform. Whether he’s leading a multilayered distribution agreement with Tier 1 media partners or strategizing internally, he speaks with substance, confidence and an eye toward a solution, his co-workers said. Prior to joining Roku, he was director of U.S. Distribution at Paramount Global, where he led negotiations for MVPD and OTT deals across the company’s cable networks and CBS. His career began at Viacom, where he was a member of the content distribution rotational program. He transitioned to a role within the sales and business development team, focusing on content partnerships and distribution agreements. Murray is making his panel debut this year at the StreamTV Show in Denver, where he will speak on “Approaching a New Frontier of Sports, Weather, & News Broadcasting & Streaming.”
Joseph Nuñez
Director of Communications and Public Relations, Brightcove
Nuñez spearheads global corporate communications, public relations and social media functions for Brightcove, the streaming technology company that powers top media and TV organizations. Since he joined Brightcove early in 2023, his work leading the company’s thought leadership and executive communications efforts has resulted in more than 50 interviews and placements for the CEO among key national programs and publications, including CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business Network and Sirius XM. Prior to joining Brightcove, whose partners include AMC Networks, BBC Studios and The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Nuñez had a stint at Twitter and previously led consumer publicity efforts for NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language broadcast and cable networks. There, he led the publicity efforts to launch Telemundo morning show Hoy Dia. He also ran the PR efforts for more than a dozen show launches and new seasons, including Telemundo’s Exatlon and La Casa de los Famosos.
Eric Ortega
Executive Producer, ABC News
Eric Ortega, executive producer on ABC News Live With Linsey Davis, is a decisive newsroom leader who builds stronger newscasts and journalists wherever he works, according to colleagues. An innovator, he frequently proposes new ideas for presenting material that brings greater awareness to impactful stories. His efforts are paying off: ABC News Live With Linsey Davis was nominated for four News & Documentary Emmy Awards this year and became the first streaming newscast nominated for best live news program. He joined ABC News in late 2022 after a stint at Vice News, where he ran Vice News Tonight. Before that, Ortega worked at NBCUniversal, starting in the page program, then moving on to line producing at Early Today and MSNBC and producing on MTP Daily with Chuck Todd and The Briefing With Luke Russert, among other programs. Before his television career began, Ortega worked on Capitol Hill, including his time as legislative assistant to former Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
Reid Pakula
VP of Talent, IF Management
Across his six years at IF Management, Pakula has amassed a client list that includes many rising stars in news. He has helped his clients make the move from smaller markets to some of the nation’s largest, including Chicago and Philadelphia, while helping them think of different ways to improve their on-air delivery. Bringing high levels of energy and engagement to his role, Pakula has been able to create great relationships with news directors and executives at all levels. A University of Maryland graduate, he earned a degree in finance with a fellowship in sports management. He was a student manager for the men’s basketball team and interned with the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA. Prior to joining IF, he worked for Octagon Sports & Entertainment. Paklula’s love for news goes back to boyhood, when he’d watch the 6 a.m. newscast before school.
John-Marcus Phillips
VP of Product, Effectv
Phillips manages a team of 35 product leaders at Effectv, the ad sales division of Comcast Cable. He leads the introduction of innovations to the ad platform that drive better outcomes across all stages of the marketing funnel. Phillips and his team played an instrumental role in developing a new suite of ad solutions geared to political advertisers, aimed at helping marketers reach, engage and connect with voters in an election year. He has been involved in efforts to combine the best aspects of traditional linear advertising with the power of digital, most recently partnering with the Comcast and FreeWheel technology teams to introduce dynamic ad insertion capabilities across new live viewing platforms such as Xfinity Stream. He has also helped introduce new measurement capabilities for ad units on the Xfinity guide experience. Phillips addresses each challenge with curiosity and passion, co-workers said, describing him as a “transformational leader.”
Bijan Razzaghi
Director, Business & Legal Affairs, Brightcove
Razzaghi is a key asset for the streaming company in terms of motivating teams, leading projects and driving results while navigating complex legal issues specific to the intersection of software and streaming. A dynamic attorney with extensive experience in the cloud-based technology industry, he provides strategic counsel on a range of commercial matters spanning Brightcove’s corporate, business and legal affairs to drive growth. He has also negotiated groundbreaking deals for Brightcove’s partnerships with Google, Magnite, SpringServe and Pubmatic. He supports Brightcove’s largest and most strategic partnerships, vendor and commercial relationships, privacy program, mergers and acquisitions and new company initiatives. Before joining Brightcove, he was corporate counsel at Parallel Wireless for nearly five years, having started there as an intern. He joined Brightcove in early 2021 as commercial counsel and has moved up rapidly.
Gardner Reed
Senior VP of Development, Wheelhouse Entertainment
Reed developed three series for the studio that launched last year, including King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch and Designing Miami for Netflix and Secret Restoration for History. He’s also behind the upcoming HGTV series Divided by Design, having found the talent, developed the concept and sold the show, as well as an unannounced dating series on OWN, a celebrity-driven pilot in production with Prime Video, an ensemble docuseries in development with Netflix and other projects for TLC, Max, Bravo, E! and National Geographic. Reed gets a true rush from finding unique characters with distinct points of view, developing viable concepts around them, and ultimately selling them through for the world to see. As an avid consumer of unscripted programming, his love for the type of content he develops fuels his initiative-driven approach, which has resulted in a growing track record of success. Colleagues said Reed is obsessed with what he does and that passion shines through in the content he creates.
Zack Rosenberg
Founder and CEO, Qortex
Rosenberg founded Qortex in 2020, setting out to connect video content with advertising outcomes by pioneering a unique in-video ad experience called On-Stream. This noninterruptive experience delivers overlay ads during editorial content for greatest viewability. To optimize for viewer engagement and sentiment, Qortex’s proprietary AI engine contextualizes each frame of a video to determine the highest moment of impact and serve a contextually relevant message. A few years before he launched Qortex, Zack founded WatchFantom, a sports media company that amplified independent sports leagues and sports radio shows. After acquiring the rights to multiple leagues and recruiting hosts from across the country, the company became a hub for local and national sports content with more than 600,000 daily viewers. Qortex is off to a promising start: In 2022, it was named Programmatic Power Player by AdExchanger. Last year, it closed a $10 million seed round of funding.
Bradley Singer
Partner, WME
A talent agent, Singer’s clients include journalists, thought leaders, production companies and publishers. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University, he joined WME’s mailroom training program in 2009. He was named partner at the agency in 2021. Over the years, Singer has been involved in the packaging and sale of such programs as Netflix’s Explained, CNN’s History of Comedy, Disney/ABC’s Tamron Hall, Apple TV Plus’ Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn and ESPN’s Skin in the Game. His long client list includes The View co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend, PBS NewsHour co-anchor Amna Nawaz, ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, actor LeVar Burton, author Ibram X. Kendi and academic Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. Working on behalf of his clients, he saw Collins moved into a primetime slot at CNN and Nawaz become anchor on PBS NewsHour, among other promotions.
Gaëlle Smagghe
Director, Product Management, LG Ad Solutions
Smagghe is a driving force behind LG Ad Solutions’ product and engineering team. As one of the earliest hires at the company, she has advanced over the past five years from business analyst to director. Smagghe collaborated with LG Electronics to introduce a dynamic rotating carousel ad unit on the LG smart TV home screen. The unit expanded ad space by 10 times and drove a remarkable increase in click-through rates while enhancing user experience and engagement on the TV home screen by over 10% by improving ad load time and seamlessly integrating auto installation of apps into the user workflow. Smagghe has also led the company’s participation in beta programs, including the introduction of video advertising on the home screen, as well as innovative ad offerings like the screensaver ad unit, which have diversified content offerings and boosted performance metrics.
Lydia Tefera
Director, Brand Marketing, AMC Networks
Tefera joined AMC Networks over six years ago, coming on board as social media marketing coordinator and moving up to digital marketing and social media manager by the fall of 2021. A graduate of Loyola University (Maryland) with a master’s degree in emerging media, colleagues said Tefera brings relentless drive for innovation to the workplace, developing pioneering marketing strategies that propel brand growth and market differentiation. She was instrumental in the rebrand of Allblk, which rejuvenated the former Urban Movie Channel. She is campaign lead for original series Parish, conceptualizing and executing a comprehensive marketing campaign that effectively targeted key demographics and maximized engagement across various platforms. She is now spearheading the marketing strategy for the rebrand of WE tv. Prior to her current role, Lydia was social marketing Lead for Allblk. She is in touch with how younger viewers consume content, thanks in part to her background as a content creator on YouTube, where she shares beauty tips.
Camille Thelemaque-Bearden
Director, Marketing, Partnerships and Local Ad Sales, TV One
Thelemaque-Bearden is a seasoned marketing professional whose career spans dynamic roles where she has demonstrated expertise in integrated brand partnership strategy and executive-level activations. Her track record reflects her adeptness at relationship building, strategic planning and fostering cross-functional collaboration. Her proficiency in storytelling and cultural relevance underscores her ability to deliver impactful marketing solutions. She executes partnership marketing strategies across digital, retail and in-market platforms. That includes this year’s launch of UPLIFT, a multi-market digital equity partnership with Comcast that provides visibility and support resources to advance economic mobility in Comcast-identified communities; and last year’s “Black to School Campaign,” a cross-platform, multi-market retail partnership with Verizon in urban markets. She was also behind “Cocktails & Conversations: Bosses Don’t Code Switch (Bosses),” an in-market activation with distribution partner Spectrum; and Thank You Black Women and Hey Black America, short-form content series developed to support affiliate pro-social efforts at the height of the pandemic.
John Weinand
IT Supervisor, Mediacom Communications
What makes Weinand stand out is his ability to overcome obstacles. Born deaf, he has made steady progress in forging a career with cable operator Mediacom, joining his uncle Rocco B. Commisso, the company’s founder, and his mother, executive VP of programming and HR Italia Commisso Weinand, in moving the corporation into the 21st century. His involvement began with summer internships in high school, which grew to a full-time position after college. As an IT supervisor, Weinand focuses on Mediacom’s evolving technology needs as it adapts to meet the challenges of today’s digital landscape. He serves on the team developing 5G/0G community and business services that are expected to improve the vital health, economic and educational sectors in the underserved communities where Mediacom does business. His communication skills make Weinand a shining example to others that no matter your disability, dedication and commitment are the keys to success.
Fethi Ziyadeoğlu
Senior Director, Programmatic Sales Development, Fubo
Ziyadeoğlu was one of Fubo’s first employees dedicated solely to ad operations. He built a team of talented ad ops and ad tech experts and under his oversight, the team was able to successfully fulfill nearly all of the campaigns they managed throughout the year. Ziyadeoğlu has also been instrumental in optimizing Fubo’s programmatic advertising technology, and has helped the MVPD to seamlessly integrate with a new ad server, enabling it to build ad-serving tech internally and to optimize demand and other KPIs. His improvements to Fubo’s ad tech stack also made the company’s ad inventory available to a greater number of advertisers simultaneously. Ziyadeoğlu is also responsible for overseeing many programmatic advertising partnerships across the industry. He launched with new partners in Canada, a growing region for Fubo. After two years of optimizing Fubo’s ad operations, he was promoted to a new role overseeing the company’s programmatic ad-sales efforts.
