Broadcasting & Cable has unveiled its Power 100 2015 and some prominent TV newsers made the list. Well, at least the bosses of some prominent TV newsers. B&C’s annual list is a “snapshot of the developers and disruptors, programmers and providers, and regulators and dealmakers who push the industry.”
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts tops the list with Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger finishing second. Les Moonves, Rupert Murdoch and Jeff Bewkes also crack the Top 10. Disney/ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood cracks the list at No. 16:
Work ethic. Intellect. Instincts. Curiosity. These are some of the words Disney CEO Bob Iger used to describe why he gave Sherwood the Disney/ABC TV Group post in early 2014. Some wondered how a onetime journalist and author (The Survivors Club) would fare in the showbiz shark tank. But after guiding Good Morning America past NBC’s Today show, Sherwood now helms the only Big Four network that last season posted a ratings increase (of 5%).
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NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke comes in at No. 24:
Burke took on a listing ship when he stepped in five years ago, and his steady hand and deep broadcast pedigree have enhanced an already positive profile. Proved his mettle in guiding NBC past the Brian Williams snafu. Primetime is potent, the Today show is back on top, and the stations have turned things around dramatically. Having Linda Yaccarino there to sell Burke’s vision puts NBCU in an enviable position.
Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is No. 30:
Ailes single-handedly revolutionized cable news. A perennial ratings winner, Fox News has been the No. 1 news network in America for more than a decade and has become one of the few must-haves in the cable universe.