Sandy Grushow

Summary

Sandy Grushow (born April 3, 1960) is an American businessman, and the CEO of Phase 2 Media,[1] a board member for The Weather Company (parent company of The Weather Channel) and works with MediaLink in the role of senior media advisor.[2]

Sandy Grushow
Born (1960-04-03) April 3, 1960 (age 63)
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A. University of California at Los Angeles
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Chief Executive Officer, Phase 2 Media

He is the former chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group and former chief creative officer[3] of MediaLink, a multimedia advisory firm that provides counsel to clients in the marketing, media, entertainment, and technology industries.[4]

Early life and education edit

Grushow was born to a Jewish family[5] on April 3, 1960, in New York City. He graduated summa cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Los Angeles, with a B.A. in communications.[6]

FOX edit

Grushow spent nearly 25 years at the Fox Entertainment Group, where he helped to create the Fox Broadcasting Company as it appears today. Grushow began his career in the feature film marketing department of 20th Century Fox, overseeing creative campaigns for movies such as Big, Die Hard and Broadcast News. In 1988, Grushow was asked by then chairman Barry Diller to invigorate Fox's new broadcast TV network as he had the motion picture studio. Grushow built the network's advertising and promotions department from the ground up between 1988 and 1990, launching signature FOX hits The Simpsons, In Living Color, COPS and 90210.[7] In addition to marketing, Grushow added programming and scheduling responsibilities to his purview in 1990 when he was named executive vice president of the FOX entertainment division. In 1992, at the age of 32, Grushow assumed the presidency of the Fox Entertainment Group entire network division, making him the youngest executive to ever hold the title of network president.[8] In that leadership role, Grushow oversaw the development and launch of The X-Files, Melrose Place, Party of Five, Living Single and MADtv while also expanding the network from four to seven nights of primetime programming. In 1996, following Grushow's successful network run, he was tasked with building FOX's television studio division, 20th Century Fox Television[9] Grushow inherited an eighth-place studio with five shows on the air. With Grushow at the helm as president, the studio's output ballooned to 22 shows; surpassing Warner Bros. Television to become the top ranked studio. In 1999, Grushow was tapped by Rupert Murdoch and Peter Chernin to return to the network he helped build. In a new role as chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group, Grushow oversaw both the television studio and the network.[10] Over the next five years, his group helped develop and launch broadcast stalwarts Malcolm in the Middle, Titus, Boston Public, Dark Angel, American Idol, 24, The O.C., The Bernie Mac Show, and finally, House.

Business positions
Preceded by President of Fox Entertainment
1992-1994
Succeeded by
John Matoian
Preceded by
Chairman of Fox Entertainment
1999-2004
Succeeded by

Filmaka edit

After rekindling the network's scripted and non-scripted programming, Grushow set out to trailblaze the nascent digital content arena. At the helm of Filmaka, an online community of more than 20,000 writers and directors spread across over 150 countries creating digital shorts and branded entertainment,[11] Grushow fostered some of the earliest relationships between cutting edge digital creatives and blue-chip marketers such as DirecTV and Ford. The company's projects helped establish the now-commonplace practice of major brands using user-generated content competitions to entertain, activate and engage audiences across multiple media platforms including the web, broadcast, and mobile.

Medialink edit

In 2010, Grushow joined MediaLink as Chief Content Officer, counseling clients in the marketing, media, entertainment, and technology industries.[12] In this role, Grushow has advised on brand/content/distribution partnerships involving numerous Fortune 100 brands in the CPG, automotive, and beverage categories, and major digital distribution players.[13]

Personal life edit

His wife is Barbara Grushow.[14] They live in Los Angeles.[6]

External links edit

  • "In Conversation with Sandy Grushow", featuring David Neuman. UCLA Comm Studies January 27, 2016

References edit

  1. ^ "21st Century Fox wants one big happy TV family with new structure". Los Angeles Times. 14 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Entertainment vet Sandy Grushow joins Weather Channel parent board". The Los Angeles Times. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Entertainment leader Sandy Grushow joins MediaLink LLC as first Chief Creative Officer". MediaLink LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Home". medialinkllc.com.
  5. ^ Shamir, Israel (June 8, 2005). Our Lady of Sorrow: The Collected Essays from the Holy Land. BookSurge Publishing. pp. 250–251. ISBN 9781419608353.
  6. ^ a b PR Newswire: "SANDY GRUSHOW NAMED PRESIDENT OF NEW MEDIA JOINT VENTURE" April 6, 1995
  7. ^ Daniel Frankel Grushow Heads to Medialink ‘’TheWrap.com’’ January 22, 2010
  8. ^ John Lippman Grushow Gets Programming Job at Fox TV “LATimes.com” December 1, 1992
  9. ^ Sallie Hofmeister Sandy Grushow to Become President of Fox TV “LATimes.com” January 10, 1997
  10. ^ Bill Carter. The Media Business: Advertising; Goodbye to Ally and Scully and Mulder at Fox. Hello to Mr. Grubb and John Doe “The New York Times” May 17, 2002
  11. ^ Hugh Hart Ex-Fox Boss Scouts New Talent at Filmaka.com ‘’Wired.com’’, April 21, 2008
  12. ^ Steve Mcclellan Former Fox Exec Grushow Joins Medialink “Adweek.com” January 22, 2010
  13. ^ Nellie Andreeva Former Fox TV chairman joins MediaLink “IMDB.com” January 22, 2010
  14. ^ Jewish Journal: "The Circuit" by Gaby Wenig January 15, 2004