Kellner, Jamie

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Kellner, Jamie

(1948-)
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Overview

Jamie Kellner, currently chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting Systems, Inc., achieved his prestigious status in broadcasting by building networks that appealed to the young—the demographic most dearly desired by advertisers. He launched the Fox Network and steered it into new TV territory, with such popular and youngndash;skewing shows as The Simpsons, In Living Color, and Melrose Place. He then went on to similar success, founding The WB and bringing the successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer to throngs of bloodthirsty young viewers. By appealing to teenagers and twenty–somethings, he's defined not only an advertising niche but two separate and successful television networks. His outstanding efforts at both networks caused AOL Time Warner executives to sit up and take notice. He was promoted in March to chairman of Turner Broadcasting System, where he oversees such aging properties as CNN, TNT, and TBS, while keeping his responsibility for The WB.

Personal Life

Kellner is married and has a son. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Kellner received the distinguished Humanitarian Award of the National Conference for Community and Justice. He was the first recipient of the Founder's Award of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association in 1997 and was named among Electronic Media's list of the Most Powerful People in Television News in 2001.

He was born in 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on New York's Long Island. He was educated in the East. He began his practical training to become one of the small–screen's big powerhouses in 1969. It was then that he joined the CBS executive training program at age 21. Of his early experiences there, he told AOL Time Warner, "I spent a month at a time in various departments to learn how the company's units operated. I worked in the music department, licensing and merchandising, and in the syndication and cable sales departments, which at the time was called Viacom. After working in these various areas, it was my responsibility to find a mentor that would take me into their department. In my case, that person was Hank Gillespie, a legendary executive in the syndication and cable sales world, who gave me my first big break. I will always be grateful to Hank, with whom I shared a wonderful relationship."

Career Details

After Kellner cut his teeth in the entertainment industry at CBS, he went on to become vice president in charge of first–run programming, development, and sales for Viacom Enterprises, until he left in 1979.

Kellner then worked at Orion Pictures as president of the Orion Entertainment Group, where he served from 1979 to 1985, before his legendary career as a television executive. He was in charge of network programming, home video, pay television, and domestic syndication. Going against the grain, Kellner decided to leave his position at the company for the challenge of starting a whole new television network. He told Electronic Media in 2001, "Let me assure you, back about 14 or 15 years ago, when I told my mother I was quitting my job to start the Fox network, she told me there was no way that could ever succeed." There were several critics who offered the same opinion that Fox would never succeed. After his 2001 appointment at Turner, he recalled, "Every time I do anything, people generally say it can't be done."

For eight years, from 1985 to 1993, Kellner was president and chief operating officer of Fox Broadcasting Co., owned by Rupert Murdoch. Kellner launched Fox and steered it into becoming the "fourth" network, introducing shows like, The Simpsons, Beverly Hills: 90210, Married... With Children, America's Most Wanted, and Melrose Place. He also created Fox Kids Network. Among the team Kellner led, there was Garth Ancier, who would follow him to the WB and Turner. Suffering from burn–out, Kellner, who had achieved what he set out to do with the network, left Fox and took nearly one year off.

Time off soon made Kellner restless, and in June 1993 he partnered with Warner Bros. and the Tribune Company to form The WB Television Network. The network was part of the Time Warner conglomerate. The WB was officially launched on January 11, 1995. At first the young network had trouble finding its niche, but Kellner soon realized the direction in which it needed to go. The WB became unique in that Kellner targeted the programming for a demographic he felt was being ignored by the other major networks at the time: teenagers and young adults. Kellner's goal was to dominate in the 12–34 demographic, especially girls and young women. That resulted in a slew of programming aimed at youths, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Felicity, and Dawson's Creek. It also launched a bevy of new young stars, including Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar. The network also began working on the family audience, with shows like Seventh Heaven. Kellner courted the very young with his creation the Kids' WB!, which provided weekday morning, afternoon, and Saturday morning programming for children and included the popular Pokemon series. In 1997 the WB made further headway in its goal of becoming TV's fifth network by managing to acquire five Sinclair Communications Inc. stations from rival United Paramount Network (UPN). Since its launch, the WB also had the distinction of launching eight series into syndication, something no other network was able to accomplish in such a short time frame. After five seasons on the WB, Buffy, one of the network's most successful shows, moved to Viacom's UPN in 2001. The network that Kellner built is expected to show a profit in 2002.

At the same time Kellner launched the WB, he also announced plans for his own station group, ACME Communications. Kellner has served as the company's CEO and chairman since 1997 and remains in that position today. While simultaneously running the WB, Kellner grew ACME into a 10–station group that went public in 1999. The 10 ACME stations are all WB affiliates. For the past two years, ACME's KPLR–TV affiliate in St. Louis has been the WB's highest–rated. With Lorne Michaels, Kellner also owns the syndication rights to Saturday Night Live and has invested in technology companies.

Chronology: Jamie Kellner

1948: Born.

1969: Began broadcasting career at CBS.

1979: Became president of the Orion Entertainment Group.

1985: President and chief operating officer of Fox Broadcasting Co.

1993: Partnered with Warner Bros. and the Tribune Company to form The WB Television Network.

1995: The WB officially launched.

1997: WB acquired five Sinclair Communications Inc. stations from rival United Paramount Network (UPN).

1997: Became CEO and chairman of company he founded, ACME Communications.

1999: ACME went public.

2001: Named chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting Systems, Inc.

Founded by TV mogul Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting and its group of basic cable channels was reorganized by parent AOL Time Warner in March 2001, which grouped it with the WB, naming Kellner as the boss of this new division. Kellner will remain very active in the WB, retaining his title of CEO and his 11 percent ownership of the company. Ted Turner became vice chairman of AOL Time Warner after the merger was announced and handed over control to Terence F. McGuirk. McGuirk ran the company for less than a year before being named vice chairman when Kellner's promotion was announced. After McGuirk, Kellner became the only person, outside of Turner himself, to run Turner's group of stations founded over thirty years ago. In his current position at Turner, Kellner is responsible for corporate oversight of the Turner domestic and international entertainment networks, including TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television (TNT), The WB Network, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Turner South, Boomerang, TNT Latin America, Cartoon Network Latin America, TCM & Cartoon Network in Europe, TCM & Cartoon Network in Asia Pacific, and Cartoon Network Japan. Kellner also oversees the CNN News Group, which includes CNN Headline News, CNN/U.S., CNNfn, CNN/SI, CNNRadio, CNN Newsource, CNN Airport Network, and CNN.com. Additionally, he is responsible for all news and entertainment advertising and distribution in the United States and abroad, for all corporate administrative functions, Turner Sports, the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Atlanta Thrashers.

AOL Time Warner hopes that by centralizing its TV stations, it can better compete with rival Viacom Inc., who are able to keep a wide variety of viewers tuned in with stations geared to all ages, including Nickelodeon for children, MTV for teens and young adults, and CBS for older viewers. Kellner, who is known for being able to attract the youth audience, was tapped to help integrate the older–skewing Turner networks. He was also hired to bring new cable stations to the division, possibly including a rival for Viacom's MTV. CNN has become an area of concern after the recent emergence of some strong competition. Bringing more viewers to the news leader will be somewhat more of a challenge for Kellner, who lacks a solid news background but who welcomes the challenge. He has already made such controversial moves as hiring former N.Y.P.D. Blue actress Andrea Thompson as a Headline News anchor. AOL Time Warner's co–chief operating officer said of Kellner, "He has the unique combination of being a programmer and a sales person and a business person all rolled in one."

Social and Economic Impact

Jamie Kellner has changed the face of television with the youth–related shows he ushered in on the two fledgling networks he helped get off the ground. He introduced ground–breaking programs at Fox, including The Simpsons, Married... With Children, and In Living Color. At his stint at the WB, he launched shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Dawson's Creek, and Felicity, which have created a new niche of programming and brought new young stars into the public eye. Much has been written and published about the recent youth movement that Hollywood started, and Kellner is certainly one of the men behind it. In the process, Kellner helped build the Fox network into a solid competitor to the Big 3 broadcast networks, an unprecedented broadcasting feat that several thought could not be accomplished. His accomplishments at the WB were equally well respected in the industry and garnered him a top Hollywood power position at conglomerate AOL Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting.

In his current position at Turner, Kellner wields amazing power as head of such mature and distinguished networks as CNN and the entire group of Turner cable stations. Recently named as one of the most powerful people in television news, he has already taken risks in his quest to integrate the sometimes disparate group of networks, including re–tooling the well–respected CNN News division as well as revamping several of the programming on its other stations. He plans to further grow the company through the introduction of new cable stations. Kellner still heads the WB as well as the broadcasting company he founded, ACME Communications.

Sources of Information

Contact at: Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
1 CNN Center
100 International Blvd.
Atlanta, GA 30303
Business Phone: (404)827–1700
URL: http://www.turner.com