| Earl
Jones - Chairman
Earl
L. Jones, Jr. Founder, Chairman & CEO of Jones Broadcast Group,
LLC, is a well-known media entrepreneur with more than thirty years
experience as a senior executive in the broadcasting, advertising
and entertainment industries. Prior to founding JBG in 2002, Mr.
Jones actively participated as an investor and advisor with leading
financial institutions in numerous M&A transactions with companies
in the media, entertainment, advertising, out-of-home, and digital
media sectors. In recent years, Mr. Jones served as Chairman and
CEO of PMC, one of the nation’s leading television advertising
sales and marketing firms. Mr. Jones founded IBS, an international
media firm that played an important role in the privatization of
overseas television networks and distributed U.S. television programming,
including NBA basketball, throughout the world where he served as
Chairman & CEO from the firm's inception in 1986 leading its
successful IPO and through its subsequent acquisition in 1992. Prior
to founding IBS, Mr. Jones was an active broadcast entrepreneur
and executive in the 1980's as a founding Partner and Vice-President
of KTXA-TV, Dallas and KTXH-TV, Houston which were sold for a then-record
price for independent television stations after less than five years
of operation. Mr. Jones thereafter served as a founding Partner
in creating new television stations in Miami, Philadelphia, and
Denver. Additionally, he served as a Partner and Director of the
NBA Denver Nuggets Basketball Franchise from 1986-1989. Mr. Jones
served as General Sales Manager of WDCA-TV, Washington, D.C. in
1979, where he began his station management career as National Sales
Manager in 1977. Prior to his television station management career,
Mr. Jones served as an Account Executive with national ad sales
firms Petry Television and Telerep, Inc., a division of Cox Communications,
and began his media career as a National Media Buyer with Grey Advertising
in New York. Mr. Jones served as a member of the Board of Governors
of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra from 1994-1997 and the Dallas
Symphony Association from 1993-1996 where he was Chairman of the
Media Committee. An honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree was
conferred on Mr. Jones by Southern Utah University for his work
in International Communications in 1988. Mr. Jones received a B.A.
in Journalism from Kent State University and conducted graduate
studies in international relations there and in Japan. Mr. Jones
received the 2009 William Taylor Distinguished Alumni Award, the
highest honor conferred by the Kent State University School of Journalism
and Mass Communications. Mr. Jones is a frequent speaker at media
industry events and conferences, most recently delivering keynote
addresses for international media conferences and for the 2008 Broadcasting
& Cable Competitive Television Summit and the 2009 Hubbard Broadcasting
Corporation Management Meeting. In recent years, Mr. Jones has convened
and moderated Business Development panels on an ongoing basis for
the annual MBA Media & Entertainment Conference, the premiere
event for business school students focusing on the media, entertainment,
and technology industries from Columbia Business School, Duke Fuqua
School of Business, MIT Sloan Management, NYU Stern School of Business,
and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Jeff Sagansky
Mr. Sagansky
has a career encompassing over 25 years in senior positions in the
television, entertainment and motion picture businesses. Named Chairman
of Robert Halmi Entertainment, Inc. in 2009, Mr. Sagansky also served
as President and CEO of Paxson Communications Corporation (PAX-TV)
from the launch of the network in 1998 through December 2002. Under
his leadership, PAX TV developed into the highest rated family friendly
television network. He green-lighted such successful PAX shows,
such as Doc, Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye, Just Cause, Weakest Link and
PAX’s longest-running series, It’s a Miracle. Under
Mr. Sagansky’s tenure, PAX’s network distribution grew
from 60% of U.S. TV households to almost 90% in only 4 years. Prior
to joining PAX TV, Mr. Sagansky was Co-President of Sony Pictures
Entertainment, where he was responsible for Sony Entertainment’s
Worldwide television operations and strategic planning. In this
capacity, he spearheaded Sony’s acquisition of Telemundo.
Previously, Mr. Sagansky was Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation
of America from September 1994 to October 1996, where he supervised
Sony Theaters, the Sony Theater / Cineplex Odeon Theaters merger
and the highly successful U.S. launch of the Sony Playstation. Prior
to joining Sony, he was President of CBS Entertainment, where he
engineered CBS’s ratings rise from third to first place in
eighteen months. Under his leadership, CBS developed such critically-acclaimed
series such as The Nanny, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Touched By
An Angel, Chicago Hope, Picket Fences and Northern Exposure. From
1989 to 1990 Mr. Sagansky was President of TriStar Pictures and
was TriStar’s President of Production from 1985 to 1989. While
at TriStar, he developed and oversaw production of a wide variety
of successful films, including Look Who’s Talking, Peggy Sue
Got Married, Steel Magnolias, Glory and About Last Night. Before
joining TriStar, he was Senior Vice president in charge of Series
Programming for NBC Entertainment from 1982 to 1985. At NBC, he
developed hit prime-time series, including Family Ties, Cheers,
The Cosby Show, Miami Vice and Highway To Heaven; shows that brought
that network to the top of the ratings. From 1979 to 1982, he was
Vice President of Development for the David Gerber Company. Prior
to that, he held positions at NBC Entertainment, including Director
of Dramatic Development in 1978 and Manager of Film Programs in
1977. Mr. Sagansky received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard
College and his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard
Business School. He also co-chaired the 30th Anniversary Endowment
Fundraising for the L.A. Free Clinic and currently serves on the
Boards of the International Council for the National Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences and the American Jewish Committee.
Chris Dickens
Chris Dickens'
media and marketing communications career spans over 35 years with
involvement at all levels and across all disciplines, from Elida
Gibbs and London Week-end Television to Vice Chairman and Head of
Media for Leo Burnett and NY Media Director and London Deputy Chairman
for Young & Rubicam. In 1988, Mr. Dickens became Director of
Sales and then Managing Director of Publishing for the UK’s
first digital broadcasting service, British Satellite Broadcasting.
After two and a half years at BSB, he returned to Y&R to become
World-Wide Media Director. He fulfilled this position for five years
with great success, including a secondment to Y&R London as
Group Chairman for 18 months. Inspired by the increasing need for
experienced media management advice and guidance, both in the UK
and internationally, Chris Dickens established and became CEO of
Chris Dickens Communications Ltd. The company has a large number
of international clients on both a project and retainer basis. In
recent years, Chris Dickens has provided due diligence reporting
for private investors in media companies, helped raise investment
capital for new media ventures and held a number of non-executive
posts with media companies particularly related to the Outdoor Medium.
Mr. Dickens jointly led the development of the first piece of Outdoor
Audience Research in the UK called OSCAR. For 10 years this was
the Industry standard. In 1996 it was superseded by POSTAR and he
served for three years as the Independent Chairman of its Board.
Todd Freeland
Mr. Freeland
is a leading investment banker and serves as JBG’s financial
advisor. He is the Managing Director of Redcroft Partners and previously
served as the Managing Director and Head of Media, Communications
& Technology, Investment & Corporate Banking for the Bank
of Montreal. He also spent over 12 years in the investment banking
divisions of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co.,
during which time he executed a wide variety of strategic and financing
transactions for clients across numerous industries, including communications,
media, financial institutions, retail, natural resources and industrial
manufacturing. Mr. Freeland was a founding member of Goldman's global
Communications, Media & Entertainment investment banking group,
and served as the head of that firm's U.S. broadcasting and European
cable and broadcasting practices. He is also a Board member of Elevator
Channel, Inc.. Mr. Freeland graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University
of North Carolina and received his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate
School of Management at Northwestern University, where he was an
Austin Scholar.
Steven Hirsch
Mr. Hirsch
recently served as President of CBS Television Distribution Media
Sales.
In 1984 Mr. Hirsch co-founded Camelot Entertainment Sales (the predecessor
of King World Media Sales). He served as Vice President from its
inception and in 1987 became President. Mr. Hirsch oversees the
sale of advertising time for all King World product, including “Wheel
of Fortune,” “Jeopardy,” “The Oprah Winfrey
Show,” “Dr. Phil,” and “Everybody Loves
Raymond.” Prior to his association with King World, Mr. Hirsch
worked for the company Television Program Enterprises where he was
one of the early proponents of barter syndication helping to launch
“Entertainment Tonight,” “Solid Gold,” “Star
Search” and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Before
his years in syndication, Mr. Hirsch served as Eastern Sales Manager
for the NBC Owned and Operated Stations, along with various sales
capacities with national advertising sales rep firms Telerep, Petry
Television and Westinghouse Broadcasting.
Robert Riesenberg
Mr. Riesenberg is the CEO of RER Entertainment. In recent years
he served as CEO of Full Circle Entertainment at The Omnicom Group,
one of the world’s leading advertising agency holding companies.
One of Madison Avenue's most powerful executives, he is a rarity
in that he enjoys cutting edge expertise in both media buying and
media planning and television production. He is an Emmy award-winning
Producer of numerous television programs and he has been honored
as the Young Audiences New York Children’s Arts Medal Recipient.
Mr. Riesenberg’s television productions have received industry-wide
critical acclaim and have appeared on virtually all US television
networks and major cable networks. He is among the industry’s
most prolific and highly regarded television producers.
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