(Jericho, NY) February 8, 2005 – Gregg Hill, President, Rainbow Network Sales, Rainbow Media's national distribution team, today named Todd Green, Senior Vice President of Affiliate Marketing and Judi Lopez, Senior Vice President, of Rainbow Network Sales' Eastern Region. Today's announcement is the first major personnel announcement by Hill and further defines Rainbow's new affiliate sales and marketing team and infrastructure. The newly created positions are part of the strategic reorganization announced in December 2004, which centralized all the Affiliate Sales and Marketing for each of the Rainbow Media brands including, AMC, IFC and WE: Women's Entertainment, as well as Rainbow's on-demand services, such as Mag Rack and sportskool, into one unified department, better maximizing service to MSOs and ensuring greater overall efficiency.
Today's announcement comes in conjunction with a series of new affiliate deals announced last week between DIRECTV, EchoStar Communications Corporation's DISH Network, Comcast, Adelphia and Mediacom which secured key distribution agreements for Rainbow's popular programming services.
The Green and Lopez announcements rounds out Hill's new senior affiliate team, which includes Ed Palluth, Senior Vice President, Southern Region; Lisa Schwartz, Senior Vice President, National Accounts and Advanced Services and Kevin Granger, Vice President, Strategic Planning and Operations.
"With the adoption of the centralized Rainbow Network Sales division, our focus in the year ahead is to provide our distribution partners, both nationally and regionally, with even greater value," stated Gregg Hill, President, Rainbow Network Sales. "Our mission is concentrated on service, by assisting our cable partners and leveraging the loyal followings and highly desirable demographics of each of the Rainbow networks. Judi, Todd and the other members of our senior team will be key architects in maximizing the vision and potential of this new infrastructure. Both have strong marketing backgrounds, solid internal and external relationships and a deep understanding of our programming brands."
In his new position, Mr. Green will oversee the strategic direction and implementation of affiliate marketing and local ad sales activities, enhancing brand loyalty for each of the Rainbow services among key distribution partners. Ms. Lopez will be responsible for leading affiliate efforts throughout the eastern region of the United States with a particular focus on building the brand image of various Rainbow networks among local distribution executives. The two executives will report to Gregg Hill.
Prior to joining Rainbow as a Vice President for National Accounts and Affiliate Marketing in 2002, Mr. Green enjoyed a thirteen-year career at Kraft Foods working his way through the company ranks, most recently as Senior Director, Category Sales Planning and Marketing, for the Maxwell House Coffee Division. This tenure provided Green with extensive experience in sales, brand marketing, sales management and strategic planning. Mr. Green earned a Masters Degree in media and film studies from New School University in New York City and a Batchelor of Business in marketing and finance from the University of Wisconsin.
Ms. Lopez had previously served Rainbow Media in roles of increasing responsibility for the past five years, most recently as Vice President, Eastern and Western Regions, where she was an integral contributor in greatly expanding subscriber and brand growth for IFC, Mag Rack, Sportskool, IFC Films On Demand, Bravo and most recently AMC and WE. Ms. Lopez was also a nine-year affiliate sales executive at the Walt Disney Company, where she directed multiple accounts and was part of the strategic team in the Disney Channel's successful move from a premium to a basic service. She is a NAMIC mentor, a member of WICT, a CTAM U at Harvard alumni and a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Rainbow's national services are enjoying record successes. AMC has had its best ratings year ever, bringing its unique and diverse mix of popular and classic movies to a wide audience. In its tenth anniversary year, IFC continues to define independent film on television, quadrupling its original programming. We: Women's Entertainment, headlined by the critically acclaimed "McLeod's Daughters" and the cultural phenomenon of "Bridezillas," continues to offer inspirational and empowering entertainment for women.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment, as well as Mag Rack, a collection of on-demand video magazines. Rainbow's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow is a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.