While research is her forte, what makes Robin Thomas a Wonder Woman of Los Angeles is her ability to build teams and grow people in their careers.
“She’s an amazing leader,” said Thomas’s own leader, Wonya Lucas, CEO of Hallmark Media. “She has a great sense of team and how to get the most out of people.”
“Teamwork is what’s really helped drive what I’ve done here — teamwork and collaboration across my New York- and Los Angeles-based teams,” Thomas said. “Ideas come from everywhere. We like to huddle and do a lot of thinking together to bring the best insights, not just report the ratings.”
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Thomas got her start in research and then grew her management and leadership skills as she grew her career.
After she graduated from the University of Georgia’s Grady School with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she entered the world of research, starting her career at an advertising agency but quickly moving toward entertainment. Her first job in television was as a research assistant at Turner Broadcasting System starting in 1988, and she maintains many of the connections she made during the 20 years she worked there.
One of those connections was Lucas. When Thomas and Lucas first met, Thomas was in research while Lucas was a marketing manager.
“What I loved about Robin was she was the person I could go to to learn about the business,” Lucas said. “I was coming from Coca-Cola and she taught me a lot about audience insights and how to turn insights into action in this medium.”
Fast forward 20-plus years when Lucas, who had previously run Public Broadcasting Atlanta and TV One, was hired to run Hallmark (then Crown) Media. Her first hire in her new role was Thomas in October 2020.
Reconnecting at Hallmark
“Robin has helped us lean into our audience, not just women 18-49, 25-54 and 55-plus,” Lucas said. “In terms of performance, we are looking at how you diversify the storytelling in ways that you can both reach the sales audience but also the audiences that we are looking to expand, which is a different psychographic.”
One of the ways Hallmark is looking to expand is by turning some of its sub-brands — such as Christian card line Dayspring and Black culture line Mahogany — into original movies and other programming to reach new and potentially younger audiences. It’s also offering subscription-based streaming service Hallmark Movies Now and making its channels available on such streaming platforms as Peacock, Philo, Hulu Plus Live TV, Vidgo, Sling TV, Fubo, DirecTV Stream and YouTube TV.
Robin not only knows how to source the best data and analytics, but she knows how to piece it together to make a clear picture. … She’s not just someone who’s handing you overnights.”
— Ken Schwab, Hallmark Media consultant
Throughout her career and work at Turner, Disney-ABC Television Group and WGN America (where she was senior VP of research), Thomas has distinguished herself by her willingness to throw herself into any project, no matter how ambitious.
“Robin has a terrific work ethic,” said E.W. Scripps chief research officer Jon Marks, for whom Thomas worked when Marks came to Turner to head research in 1999. “It’s not that she’s one of those people who will work until midnight, but when she’s there she’s super-focused and working at a very intense rate and pace. She’s really committed to what she’s doing and she gets her team focused and committed.”
Making Data Work for Business
“Robin not only knows how to source the best data and analytics, but she knows how to piece it together to make a clear picture,” said Ken Schwab, who consults for Hallmark Media and who Thomas also met while they were both at Turner. “I think she also understands the business implications of that picture. She’s not just someone who’s handing you overnights — she’s optimizing key programming initiatives and building out long-term plans.”
Thomas also understands the value that Hallmark’s viewers place on it and works to protect that value.
“The amazing thing about Hallmark is that it is really a brand,” Thomas said. “Hallmark really means a lot to the viewer and the consumer, it’s not just a TV network. It’s the way Hallmark makes them feel emotionally. They get carried away in a story that takes them somewhere they’ve never been before. Love is why our viewers love us. Connectivity is what they want to get out of watching us.”
