Peter
Liguori Named President, Entertainment Fox Broadcasting Company
Peter Liguori Named President, Entertainment
Fox Broadcasting Company
Los Angeles, CA, March 24, 2005 – Peter Liguori has been named
President, Entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The
announcement was made by Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating
Officer of News Corporation. Mr. Liguori will be responsible for all FOX
program development and scheduling, as well as marketing, business affairs
and promotions.
Prior to today’s appointment, Mr. Liguori served as President and CEO
of News Corp.’s FX Networks since 1998, where he oversaw business and
programming operations for FX and the Fox Movie Channel. Under his
leadership, FX rose from a nascent network to one of the top five basic
cable networks with critically acclaimed programs like “Nip/Tuck,” “The
Shield” and “Rescue Me” and the award-winning FX Original Movies
franchise, home to highly-regarded films including “Redemption,” “The
Pentagon Papers” and “44 Minutes.”
“Peter has done an extraordinary job with FX,” Mr. Chernin said.
“He took what was largely a blank slate and turned it into arguably the
hottest network in cable. He’s produced more quality cable programming
in the past three years than anyone in the business and has raised the bar
for distinctive television. Peter is taking over FBC at a time when the
network is in as good a competitive position as it’s ever been, and that’s
thanks in large part to the leadership and creative instincts Gail Berman
demonstrated in her five years at FOX. I look forward to seeing Peter make
his own mark on the network.”
“I’m delighted with the opportunity Peter has given me to take the
helm of a network that has always been at the forefront of original,
ambitious programming,” Mr. Liguori said. “FOX’s exceptional team of
creative executives has succeeded in breaking the mold with a year-round
programming model and I could not be more excited to work with them to
roll out the network’s impressive new development slate.”
The critically acclaimed original programming that has been the heart
of Mr. Liguori’s strategy for FX has helped boost its subscriber base
from 39 to more than 84 million homes in five years. This growth, coupled
with historically high ratings, has led FX to all-time highs in
advertising and affiliate revenues. In the past three years, FX has been
honored with more industry awards than any other basic cable network for
its original movies like “The Pentagon Papers,” “RFK” and “Redemption
and its original series, “Rescue Me,” “The Shield,” and “Nip/Tuck.”
Most recently, Mr. Liguori and the FX team, led by John Landgraf, have
developed several new series scheduled to premiere later this year,
including “30 Days,” a new documentary series from Academy Award
nominee Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”); scripted comedies
“Starved” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia;” the battle
drama “Over There,” from Stephen Bochco; and “Thief,” starring
Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher.
An executive with broad consumer marketing as well as programming
experience, Mr. Liguori joined FOX/Liberty Networks in 1996 as Senior Vice
President, Marketing for a new joint venture, which today includes Fox
Sports Net, FX, Fox Sports World, SPEED and the National Geographic
Channel.
Prior to joining Fox, Mr. Liguori was Vice President, Consumer
Marketing at HBO. He also held several positions in HBO’s Home Video
division, including Vice President, Marketing and Senior Vice President,
Marketing, where his duties included the creation and implementation of
marketing programs for all HBO Home Video product expansion and
development of its programming line-up.
Mr. Liguori also has experience in the feature film business as a
producer of the well-known independent film “Big Night.” Before HBO,
he worked in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi.
News Corporation had total assets as of December 31, 2004 of
approximately US$53 billion and total annual revenues of approximately
US$22 billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media and
entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed
entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast
satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing;
and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in
the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia
and the Pacific Basin.
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