Erik Sorenson, the one-time “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Evening News” EP who went on to run MSNBC from 1998-2004, has become an equity partner in Sucherman Consulting Group where he is COO.
Sucherman is a management consulting, executive search, and industry intelligence firm for the media and entertainment industries founded and run by Stuart Sucherman. “I am honored at the opportunity to partner with Stuart in owning and operating SCG,” says Sorenson. “I cannot think of a better team with whom to take this next step.”
SCG also announced it is expanding its Los Angeles office and launching SCG Industry Intelligence which will provide data and analysis about the media industry for clients which include ABC, ESPN, NBC, Telemundo and more.
More in the release after the jump…
SUCHERMAN CONSULTING GROUP ANNOUNCES CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ERIK SORENSON, TO BECOME EQUITY PARTNER
Increases Scope of Services with Addition of SCG Industry Intelligence
Matthew Wagner Named Executive Vice President of SCG Industry Intelligence; Angela Gardner Named Executive Vice President of SCG Search
Sucherman Consulting Group, Inc (SCG), the premier management consulting, executive search, and industry intelligence firm for the media and entertainment industries, today announced that current Chief Operating Officer (COO) Erik Sorenson has become an equity partner with SCG. Mr. Sorenson will continue to serve as COO, overseeing the company’s projects and new business development.
“Erik joined SCG in 2010 bringing with him a career of experience in every aspect of the media business, from development to production to management, making him an extremely valuable and sought after partner in this industry,” said Stuart Sucherman, SCG’s Founder, Chairman and CEO. “It was a very natural transition for Erik to assume this new role as an equity partner with the company, and I look forward to continued growth and success over the coming years.”
“I am honored at the opportunity to partner with Stuart in owning and operating SCG,” said COO Erik Sorenson. “I cannot think of a better team with whom to take this next step.”
Along with the creation of this new partnership, SCG announced it is expanding its Los Angeles office, and increasing its scope of services with the addition of SCG Industry Intelligence. Having recognized that clients are increasingly looking for concrete and substantive information on the industry and their competitors, SCG Industry Intelligence will bring thorough industry analyses to its clients using highly-placed contacts within the media and entertainment landscape. SCG Industry Intelligence will be led by Matthew Wagner, who will serve as Executive Vice President of SCG Intelligence. Mr. Wagner has been with the company for over ten years, and will take on the role of overseeing this newly created department.
SCG also named media industry veteran Angela Gardner as Executive Vice President of SCG Executive Search. Ms. Gardner, a strategic human capital specialist, with extensive experience acquiring, developing and integrating talent, comes to SCG from a long career in the media industry, most recently as the Senior Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Fox Entertainment Group. Ms. Gardner and Mr. Wagner will both be based out of SCG’s Los Angeles office.
Stuart Sucherman continued: “Over the years, the team at SCG has worked to build an impressive and distinguished clientele providing consulting, high-level talent and executive search, and industry intelligence services to the largest and most-watched media networks across the globe. With the creation of this new partnership, the expansion of our Los Angeles operation, an increased scope of services, and the addition of new talent to our team, Sucherman Consulting will grow into an even more vital advisor in the industry.”
About Sucherman Consulting Group, Inc
Sucherman Consulting Group, Inc. is a management consulting, executive search and industry intelligence firm that specializes in working with the largest media and entertainment companies across the globe.
We are a team of experienced industry executives who over the last 25 years have created unique and diverse programming strategies, organizational structures and decision-making processes. We have recruited hundreds of senior executives for the most recognized media organizations, and conducted strategic market research providing our clients with substantive industry intelligence. In an industry that is constantly evolving, we provide the depth of experience needed to help organizations react, respond and thrive.
Sucherman’s consulting clients include NBC Universal – NBC Network, CNBC & Telemundo, Disney – ABC News & ESPN, Discovery Channel Networks, Viacom – Showtime & MTV Networks, AOL, the New York Mets, and the New York Jets. Sucherman has placed executives at ABC, A&E, CNN, CNBC, Comedy Central, Endemol, Food Network, Fuse, Fox, Game Show Network, MTV, NBC, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Sundance, Telemundo, Tennis Channel, VH1, Viacom, the New York Mets, New York Jets and others. (http://www.sucherman.com/)
Bios
Erik Sorenson, Chief Operating Officer
Erik Sorenson is Executive Vice President and COO of SCG. Sorenson has been involved in every aspect of the media business, from development to production to management, making him a valuable partner both for the firm’s clients and for the management of the company’s day-to-day operations. His experience spans radio, local and broadcast television, cable and syndicated television and digital media. He is widely regarded as an expert on media strategy, industry trends and management best practices.
As a writer, producer and television executive, Sorenson has won more than twenty Emmy awards and a Peabody, among many others. After starting out in radio, Sorenson began his local television career in 1977, became the youngest major market news director (at age 28) and later rose to the level of Station Manager at KCBS-TV in 1987. Two years later, CBS moved Sorenson to New York as Executive Producer of CBS This Morning and by 1991 he was named Executive Producer of The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Sorenson went on to create and produce a syndicated program for Group W and CBS (Day & Date) and served as EVP, Programming for Court TV (then a joint venture of Time-Warner, NBC and Liberty Media.)
In 1998, Sorenson was named President and GM of MSNBC, the 24-hour cable news joint venture between GE and Microsoft. For six years, Sorenson managed a staff of more than 500 and led the channel during the Kosovo War, the Bush-Gore 2000 Election, the 9/11 attacks, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sorenson also served on the joint venture board of msnbc.com, then the leading general news site in the United States. After leaving NBC in 2004, Sorenson formed a production company and for three years was CEO of Triple Threat Television which produced programs for ESPN, TLC, MTV and CNBC. In October 2007, Sorenson was named CEO of Vault.com and charged with growing the website and on-line business into a global, cross-platform leader within the highly competitive career space. In January 2010, Sorenson became non-executive Chairman of Vault.com’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Sorenson earned his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and also attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Sorenson attended one year of law school before devoting himself full-time to his television career and he was awarded an executive black belt in Six Sigma business management strategy from GE in 2003. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Children’s Aid and Family Services of New Jersey and serves on the President’s Council of the Valley Hospital Healthcare System.
Matthew Wagner, Executive Vice President of SCG Industry Intelligence
Matthew Wagner joined Sucherman Consulting Group in 2000. Mr. Wagner is based Los Angeles, where he has been running SCG’s West Coast operations since 2007.
Over his ten years at SCG, Mr. Wagner has led numerous searches and consulting projects for such clients as ABC Network, ABC Family, A&E Television Networks, CNBC, Current Media, Discovery Communications, Endemol, ESPN, Lifetime Entertainment, MSG Networks, NBC Universal, New York Mets, and Telemundo. These placements have included leadership roles across a variety of disciplines including marketing, sales, research, operational, human resources, and corporate development roles, with an emphasis on programming and digital media searches.
Recent placement highlights include: Senior Vice President of Advocacy & Public Affairs, Lifetime Entertainment; Senior Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions for MSG Networks; Senior Vice President of Digital Media for A&E Television Networks; Vice President, Business Development & New Media Strategic Planning for Endemol USA; Senior Vice President, Sales for Pathfire; Vice President, Programming & Scheduling for Fuse; Vice President, West Coast Development for True Entertainment; Director, Marketing for ABC News Digital Media Group.
Prior to joining SCG, Mr. Wagner spent three years as a Producer, Writer and On-Air Host for America Online Entertainment, where he produced and conducted over 200 live interactive interviews with A-list actors, directors, and producers. Additionally, Mr. Wagner created and produced several interactive talk and games shows for AOL’s entertainment division. Prior to joining AOL, Mr. Wagner was an actor and a playwright. Mr. Wagner served as the Artistic Director of Blank Slate Theater Company in New York.
Mr. Wagner is a Board of Director for Communities in Schools, Los Angeles West. He earned his B.A. in Theatre, Film, and Television from UCLA and studied acting at the William Esper School in New York.
Angela Gardner, Executive Vice President of SCG Executive Search
Angela Gardner joined Sucherman Consulting Group in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Development. Angela is a strategic human capital specialist, with extensive experience acquiring, developing and integrating talent.
Angela was born and brought up in the United Kingdom. She grew up near Cambridge and studied in North Wales and graduated with a degree in Psychology. Angela began her career in executive search in London, working for a number of boutique firms before joining international executive search firm, Heidrick & Struggles, in 1995. She was a member of the Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail practices. In 2000, she transferred to Los Angeles to build the consumer and entertainment related business in Southern California.
In 2003, Angela joined Fox Networks Group as Vice President, Talent Acquisition to establish their first in-house recruiting function. In 2009, she was promoted to SVP, Talent Acquisition of Fox Entertainment Group. Applying the principles of executive search to talent acquisition, she and her team established a department that serviced approximately 9000 employees. The team recruited at all levels – from interns to Presidents, was responsible for hiring all exempt and non-exempt employees; orienting new hires, and developing a diverse talent pipeline.
Angela has supervised the hiring of thousands of individuals in television, digital and consumer facing worlds. She was responsible for hiring at all levels across the broadcast, cable, sports, digital and movie businesses, including Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, FuelTV, Speed, Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Regional Sports Nets, FX, Fox Movie Channel, National Geographic Channel, Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Fox Home Entertainment, Fox Licensing & Merchandising, Blue Sky Studios, and Twentieth Century Fox Television Studios. During her time at Fox, she helped launch Fox Reality Channel, Fox Look, Big Ten Network, Nat Geo Wild, Fox Interactive Media, Fox Digital Media, and Hulu.com (JV with NBCUniversal). She also worked on the integration and expansion of such businesses as Fox Audience Network, Beliefnet, Fox.com, AI.com, Foxsports.com, Whatifsports.com, Scout.com, IGN and MySpace.