GSN: The Strategy of Owning a Specific Cable Audience
With Rich Cronin
Date Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Time 05:00 PM to 09:00 PM
Agenda 5:00 - 6:00 Moderated Discussion on Strategy
6:00 - 6:30 Registration and Networking
6:30 - 7:30 Dinner
7:30 - 9:00 Speaker Presentation
9:00 Adjournment
Location The UCLA Faculty Center
About the Topic
Television game shows have enjoyed renewed popularity over the last few years. No one is more qualified to discuss this than our guest speaker, Rich Cronin of GSN.
GSN is the entertainment industry leader in multi-platform interactive game programs. As the premier television network for games, GSN features challenging word games, high intensity casino programs, live participation shows, reality series and documentaries. GSN's programming includes original series such as "Chain Reaction," “Lingo" and "High Stakes Poker" as well as the classics "Jeopardy" and "Pyramid" among others. The network also boasts America's first live participation TV program "PlayMania" which airs on late-night six times a week.
Complementing the network, GSN.com features all types of game play: innovative Flash games for fun, skill cash game tournaments and downloadable games. The website also features GSN's two-screen interactive play-along for prime time shows. Now reaching more than 62 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation.
Mr. Cronin will address strategies and the importance of:
Interactive game shows, allowing at home viewers to participate in games.
The internet as a means of bringing interaction to the television media; perhaps touching on the dual ability for advertising online and on TV.
Product placement in gameshows during a time when DVRS allow viewers to forward through commercials which advertisers have paid large dollar amounts to place. Increased visibility during a time when there are a lot of choices to grab viewers' attention.
This is one program you won’t want to miss. Sign up today!
About the Speakers
Rich Cronin
President & CEO, GSN
Named President and Chief Executive Officer of GSN, the network for games, in April 2001, Rich Cronin has utilized his pioneering cable television experience to help transform GSN into the preeminent destination for interactive games and game-related programming.
Since taking over the helm at the Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation company, Cronin’s accomplishments have resulted in significant gains and innovations. Cronin has increased the network’s distribution by more than 30 million subscribers, with GSN now in 61 million cable and satellite homes in the United States. He also assisted in increasing annual ad sales revenues, which have nearly doubled.
GSN now programs more than 19 hours a day of interactive play-along programming, far and away the most in the industry. The company also launched online skill games from GSN’s properties such as the original hit TV game show LINGO.
In programming, Cronin remains a vital force behind GSN’s expansion from traditional game shows to a variety of competition-related genres. He has been responsible for steering the company into documentaries, reality series, casino games and specials. He also was integral to the company’s successful marketing efforts rebranding from Game Show Network to GSN, the network for games, in March 2004.
Cronin has spearheaded efforts behind the company’s new service, GSNi, which launched in April 2005. GSNi is an interactive product that offers subscribers the ability to play along with GSN’s programming in real time using their TV remote control.
Prior to taking control of GSN, Cronin served as President and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network, beginning in 1998. While there, Cronin grew its cable distribution and launched new family programming that included top-rated original movies. During Cronin’s tenure, the value of Fox Family Worldwide nearly tripled, eventually yielding a sale of its assets to ABC/Disney in 2001.
Cronin spent nearly 14 years, from 1984 through 1997, at Viacom’s highly successful cable networks, including 5 years as head of marketing for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. While in this position he played an integral part in growing the then small children’s network into a powerful global brand and dominant force in family television. His accomplishments were rewarded with a promotion to Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon’s nightly home of Classic TV. Building Nick at Nite into a formidable franchise, Cronin then founded and became the first President of TV Land, one of the most successful cable/satellite networks launched in the 1990’s.
Cronin, who graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1976 while working at the local NBC station in the news department, moved to Los Angeles and held a variety of positions in TV and film production while earning his MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television. He began his career in cable television in 1982 at the operator-owned premium movie channel Spotlight before accepting a position as an affiliate sales executive with MTV Networks in 1984.
Cronin is on the board of CTAM, the cable industry’s premiere marketing organization, is Chairman of the Paulist Productions Board, and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO). He and his wife and four children live in Los Angeles.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
cronin rich
Rich Cronin (executive)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Richard Cronin has been a force behind several cable television networks throughout the past two decades. He is a member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO) and is on the board of Paulist Productions, a non-profit company that creates inspirational television programs, films and new media content.
[edit] Early career
Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, Cronin worked extensively in either launching, popularizing, or expanding numerous cable networks. Among these networks: TV Land, a cable channel of his own creation which he founded and led as the network's first president, Nickelodeon, where he was head of marketing for five years, Nick & Nite, where he was General Manager and Senior Vice President during the mid-90s, MTV Networks, as an affiliate sales executive, and Fox Family, which saw its value triple during Cronin's tenure as President and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network. Fox Family Worldwide was sold to ABC and the Walt Disney Company, who changed the cable network's name to ABC Family in 2001.
In 1976, Cronin received his BA from the University of Notre Dame, where he also worked at the NBC station WNDU. His first industry job in Los Angeles was with the Merv Griffin company, which then produced the Merv Griffin Show as well as game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. In 1979, just before entering the University of Southern California to earn his MFA in the Cinema/Television School's Peter Stark Program, Cronin was a contestant on the Allen Ludden-emceed Password Plus (1979-1982). His episodes aired during the summer of 2006 on GSN, where Cronin was President and Chief Executive Officer.
[edit] Recent years
Cronin became President and CEO of Game Show Network in early 2001, when the network was in just 31 million homes and featured classic game shows. Over the next six years, Cronin and his team expanded the network's distribution to 64 million homes while making GSN the industry leader in interactivity and transforming GSN.com into an online games destination. In 2004, Game Show Network's name was changed to GSN - The Network for Games in order to accommodate the wider variety of game-related programming. Original programming created under Cronin includes Lingo, World Series of Blackjack, High Stakes Poker, Chain Reaction, Without Prejudice, Grand Slam, That's The Question, the new I've Got a Secret, American Dream Derby, Anything To Win and Extreme Dodgeball. In addition, GSN was the first American network to launch a new form of live interactive participation-TV game show with a late-night block called PlayMania. Original online games on GSN.com created under Cronin include online versions of such hit GSN game shows as Lingo as well as original news-related comedy games such as So You Think You Can Drive, Mel, based on Mel Gibson's public arrest, and The Prison Life: Paris, which showed Paris Hilton in jail making license plates. While expanding GSN beyond game shows, Cronin has been praised by game show fans and experts for: a 2006 countdown of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, as well as the network's highest-rated special, Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, and GSN's pioneering interactive play-along capability.
In July 2007, Cronin announced that he would step down President of GSN after six years of growing the company from a small classic game show channel into a highly profitable interactive network and online games destination. GSN board members from owners Liberty Media and Sony praised Cronin and thanked him for his success in building the business.
Cronin is a father of four.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Richard Cronin has been a force behind several cable television networks throughout the past two decades. He is a member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO) and is on the board of Paulist Productions, a non-profit company that creates inspirational television programs, films and new media content.
[edit] Early career
Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, Cronin worked extensively in either launching, popularizing, or expanding numerous cable networks. Among these networks: TV Land, a cable channel of his own creation which he founded and led as the network's first president, Nickelodeon, where he was head of marketing for five years, Nick & Nite, where he was General Manager and Senior Vice President during the mid-90s, MTV Networks, as an affiliate sales executive, and Fox Family, which saw its value triple during Cronin's tenure as President and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network. Fox Family Worldwide was sold to ABC and the Walt Disney Company, who changed the cable network's name to ABC Family in 2001.
In 1976, Cronin received his BA from the University of Notre Dame, where he also worked at the NBC station WNDU. His first industry job in Los Angeles was with the Merv Griffin company, which then produced the Merv Griffin Show as well as game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. In 1979, just before entering the University of Southern California to earn his MFA in the Cinema/Television School's Peter Stark Program, Cronin was a contestant on the Allen Ludden-emceed Password Plus (1979-1982). His episodes aired during the summer of 2006 on GSN, where Cronin was President and Chief Executive Officer.
[edit] Recent years
Cronin became President and CEO of Game Show Network in early 2001, when the network was in just 31 million homes and featured classic game shows. Over the next six years, Cronin and his team expanded the network's distribution to 64 million homes while making GSN the industry leader in interactivity and transforming GSN.com into an online games destination. In 2004, Game Show Network's name was changed to GSN - The Network for Games in order to accommodate the wider variety of game-related programming. Original programming created under Cronin includes Lingo, World Series of Blackjack, High Stakes Poker, Chain Reaction, Without Prejudice, Grand Slam, That's The Question, the new I've Got a Secret, American Dream Derby, Anything To Win and Extreme Dodgeball. In addition, GSN was the first American network to launch a new form of live interactive participation-TV game show with a late-night block called PlayMania. Original online games on GSN.com created under Cronin include online versions of such hit GSN game shows as Lingo as well as original news-related comedy games such as So You Think You Can Drive, Mel, based on Mel Gibson's public arrest, and The Prison Life: Paris, which showed Paris Hilton in jail making license plates. While expanding GSN beyond game shows, Cronin has been praised by game show fans and experts for: a 2006 countdown of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, as well as the network's highest-rated special, Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, and GSN's pioneering interactive play-along capability.
In July 2007, Cronin announced that he would step down President of GSN after six years of growing the company from a small classic game show channel into a highly profitable interactive network and online games destination. GSN board members from owners Liberty Media and Sony praised Cronin and thanked him for his success in building the business.
Cronin is a father of four.
cronin
Rich CroninPresident and CEOGSN – The Network for Games
Named President and Chief Executive Officer of GSN, the network for games, in April 2001, Rich Cronin has utilized his pioneering cable television experience to help transform GSN into the preeminent destination for interactive games and game-related programming.
Since taking over the helm at the Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation company, Cronin’s accomplishments have resulted in significant gains and innovations. Cronin has increased the network’s distribution by over 30 million subscribers, with GSN now in 60 million cable and satellite homes in the United States. He also has assisted in increasing annual ad sales revenues which have nearly doubled.
GSN now programs over 19 hours a day of interactive play-along programming, far and away the most in the industry. The company also has launched online skill games from GSN’s properties such as original hit TV game show LINGO.
In programming, Cronin remains a vital force behind GSN’s expansion from traditional game shows to a variety of competition-related genres. He has been responsible for steering the company into documentaries, reality series, casino games and specials. He also was integral to the company’s successful marketing efforts rebranding from Game Show Network to GSN, the network for games, in March 2004.
Cronin has spearheaded efforts behind the company’s new service, GSNi, which launched in April 2005. GSNi is a new interactive product that offers subscribers the ability to play along with GSN’s programming in real time using their TV remote control.
Prior to taking control of GSN, Cronin served as President and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network, beginning in 1998. While there, Cronin grew its cable distribution and launched new family programming that included top-rated original movies. During Cronin’s tenure, the value of Fox Family Worldwide nearly tripled, eventually yielding a sale of its assets to ABC/Disney in 2001.
Cronin spent nearly 14 years, from 1984 through 1997, at Viacom’s highly successful cable networks, including 5 years as head of marketing for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. While in this position he played an integral part in growing the then small children’s network into a powerful global brand and dominant force in family television. His accomplishments were rewarded with a promotion to Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon’s nightly home of Classic TV. Building Nick at Nite into a formidable franchise, Cronin then founded and became the first President of TV Land, one of the most successful cable/satellite networks launched in the 1990’s.
Cronin, who graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1976 while working at the local NBC station in the news department, moved to Los Angeles and held a variety of positions in TV and film production while earning his MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television. He began his career in cable television in 1982 at the operator-owned premium movie channel Spotlight before accepting a position as an affiliate sales executive with MTV Networks in 1984.
Cronin is on the board of CTAM, the cable industry’s premiere marketing organization, is Chairman of the Paulist Productions Board, and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO). He and his wife and four children live in Los Angeles.
Named President and Chief Executive Officer of GSN, the network for games, in April 2001, Rich Cronin has utilized his pioneering cable television experience to help transform GSN into the preeminent destination for interactive games and game-related programming.
Since taking over the helm at the Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation company, Cronin’s accomplishments have resulted in significant gains and innovations. Cronin has increased the network’s distribution by over 30 million subscribers, with GSN now in 60 million cable and satellite homes in the United States. He also has assisted in increasing annual ad sales revenues which have nearly doubled.
GSN now programs over 19 hours a day of interactive play-along programming, far and away the most in the industry. The company also has launched online skill games from GSN’s properties such as original hit TV game show LINGO.
In programming, Cronin remains a vital force behind GSN’s expansion from traditional game shows to a variety of competition-related genres. He has been responsible for steering the company into documentaries, reality series, casino games and specials. He also was integral to the company’s successful marketing efforts rebranding from Game Show Network to GSN, the network for games, in March 2004.
Cronin has spearheaded efforts behind the company’s new service, GSNi, which launched in April 2005. GSNi is a new interactive product that offers subscribers the ability to play along with GSN’s programming in real time using their TV remote control.
Prior to taking control of GSN, Cronin served as President and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network, beginning in 1998. While there, Cronin grew its cable distribution and launched new family programming that included top-rated original movies. During Cronin’s tenure, the value of Fox Family Worldwide nearly tripled, eventually yielding a sale of its assets to ABC/Disney in 2001.
Cronin spent nearly 14 years, from 1984 through 1997, at Viacom’s highly successful cable networks, including 5 years as head of marketing for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. While in this position he played an integral part in growing the then small children’s network into a powerful global brand and dominant force in family television. His accomplishments were rewarded with a promotion to Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon’s nightly home of Classic TV. Building Nick at Nite into a formidable franchise, Cronin then founded and became the first President of TV Land, one of the most successful cable/satellite networks launched in the 1990’s.
Cronin, who graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1976 while working at the local NBC station in the news department, moved to Los Angeles and held a variety of positions in TV and film production while earning his MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Television. He began his career in cable television in 1982 at the operator-owned premium movie channel Spotlight before accepting a position as an affiliate sales executive with MTV Networks in 1984.
Cronin is on the board of CTAM, the cable industry’s premiere marketing organization, is Chairman of the Paulist Productions Board, and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO). He and his wife and four children live in Los Angeles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)