Dave Ferrara
Wow. HRTS has just been crazy busy over the past few months so I’ll use this column to let you in on some of the reasons why.
On the events front, many of you attended one or more of our recent luncheons featuring The Hitmakers, our annual Broadcast Network Chiefs panel and a special one-on-one with CBS’ Leslie Moonves. Great conversations… Great panelists… and great audiences gathered for each of these uniquely HRTS events.
And upcoming for spring, please mark your calendars for our next luncheon, to be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Wednesday March 7th… our Cable Programming Summit. Co-Chairs Craig Erwich, Kelly Goode and Dick Askin are putting together an esteemed panel of leading programming execs from the cable network world to drill down on the nuts and bolts of developing compelling programming.
Also on the books, stay tuned for our ever provocative Unscripted Hitmakers panel set for April and of course our State of the Industry panel in June. The announcement for our next panel will go out shortly and details and tickets for all of our upcoming events are available on our website at HRTS.ORG.
Additionally… I’m proud to announce that our HRTS membership has been growing… we are proud to welcome two new Corporate Members to our group… Fox International Channels and MediaLink LLC.
That brings our expanding bi-coastal membership to 51 Corporate members and over 1500 individuals representing over 230 companies involved in the television and media business.
As mentioned prior to the holiday break… we’ve also launched a pilot academic membership program which makes our panels and other events available to colleges and universities nationwide on-line.
The Hitmakers 2012
Between our growing membership, HRTS Newsmaker Luncheons, our new academic memberships and our busy junior HRTS activities in both New York and LA, we’re making great strides towards one of our key goals; that of being the premier resource for industry insight and knowledge, providing valuable tools to help better prepare individuals for success in our business.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to make these resources available to your colleagues, staff or alma mater… I encourage you to reach out to us directly to discuss.
Now, as you know, all of our organization’s activities and events are guided by our HRTS Board of Directors. These volunteer leaders hold a key role in planning and supporting the ongoing evolution of our group and it’s goals. It’s my pleasure to announce three new executive appointments to the HRTS Board. Joining the board for the 2012-2014 term are:
- Paul Buccieri – Managing Director, ITV Studios International and President & CEO ITV Studios America…
- Michael Kassan – Chairman & CEO, MediaLink, LLC…
- Eileen O’Neill – Group President, Discovery & TLC Networks
Please join me in welcoming them to the HRTS Board. I look forward to working with our newest board members and thank them in advance for their service to the organization.
In conclusion it’s an exciting time at HRTS. So much is happening I can’t help but be bullish on our business as we dive into a new pilot season. HRTS is enjoying a rapidly expanding member base, many new initiatives, and the unique energy that comes from bringing together the most accomplished and creative individuals and companies in our industry.
So yes, it’s a crazy, busy time at HRTS. And I’ll look forward to seeing you at our next luncheon!
Dave Ferrara
Executive Director