Nancy Dubuc, President and Chief Executive Officer, A+E Networks

On February 10th, 2015, the Paley Media Council hosted a conversation with A+E Networks’ Nancy Dubuc about her leadership and transformation of the pioneering group of cable networks in an age of media fragmentation, including her recent investment in VICE Media.

Nancy Dubuc, President and Chief Executive Officer, A+E Networks
Nancy Dubuc is President and Chief Executive Officer of A+E Networks, encompassing A&E®, Lifetime®, HISTORY®, LMN®, FYI™ and H2™, as well as A+E Studios®, A+E Networks International®, A+E Networks Digital®, A&E Indie Films® and A+E Networks Consumer Products®. She became A+E Networks’ third CEO in the company’s nearly 30-year history in June 2013. The company is now in over 330 million households in more than 180 territories and across a multitude of platforms. In September 2014, Dubuc oversaw A+E Networks’ acquisition of a 10% stake in Vice Media. Under her stewardship, the A+E Networks portfolio has two of the top ten entertainment brands – HISTORY and A&E– and two of the leading women’s brands in Lifetime and LMN. In 2014, A+E Networks leads all other cable groups with 5 of the top 25 shows in adults 25-54 and 12 of the top 50 shows in adults 25-54. A+E Networks’ portfolio of hit shows includes HISTORY’s Vikings™, Pawn Stars®, Swamp People® and American Pickers™; Lifetime’s Devious Maids, Project Runway® and Dance Moms®; A&E’s Duck Dynasty® and Bates Motel™ and FYI’s breakout hit Married at First Sight ™. During her 15 year tenure at A+E Networks as producer, programmer and network executive, Dubuc has received multiple Emmy® awards and nominations. For the last two years, Fortune Magazine has named Dubuc one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. The Hollywood Reporter has annually named her one of the Top Five Most Powerful on their Power 100 Top Women in Entertainment list and Variety has consistently featured her in their annual Women’s Impact Report. In 2007, she received the Preserve America Presidential Award, the highest national award for historic preservation achievement, for HISTORY’s Save Our History® initiative. A graduate of Boston University, Dubuc received a Distinguished Alumni Award from their College of Communications in 2013.

Moderated by Marisa Guthrie, Television Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Marisa Guthrie has been writing about the television industry for more than a decade. In 2010, she joined The Hollywood Reporter, which was re-launched as a weekly glossy and has since become one of the most buzzed about publications in the industry. Based in THR’s New York office, in June 2013 she was promoted to East Coast Television Editor. She has written cover stories on Jon Stewart’s foray into filmdom with Rosewater, John Oliver’s jump from The Daily Show to HBO, Matt Lauer and his $25 million contract and Bob Costas and NBC’s multi-billion dollar London Olympics. For the last three years she has edited THR’s annual 35 Most Powerful People in Media list, an exclusive tally of New York’s media influencers. She also writes feature profiles - subjects have included Lena Dunham, Steve Harvey and boxing trainer Freddie Roach - and regularly breaks news on THR online including Meredith Vieira’s departure from Today, Lara Logan’s return to 60 Minutes and Keith Olbermann’s reconciliation with ESPN. Prior to THR, she was an editor at Broadcasting & Cable where she covered programming and the advertising and television news industries. There she wrote cover stories on the skyrocketing price tag of sports rights, the death of investigative journalism and the incredibly wasteful but enduring network development process. She makes frequent television appearances including on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Entertainment Tonight, CBS This Morning and Good Morning America. Before B&C she spent three years at the New York Daily News where she covered the personalities driving the business, from the rank and file behind the cameras to actors and directors and the denizens of the C-suites. She’s interviewed everyone who is anyone in the industry including Leslie Moonves, David Zaslav, John Skipper, Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Conan O’Brien, David Chase, Tina Fey, Michael J. Fox, Larry David and countless others. Prior to moving to New York, she worked at the Boston Herald, where she wrote television criticism and was a section editor.

This event is exclusive to Media Council members and other invited guests. To find out more about Media Council membership, contact mediacouncil@paleycenter.org.

Learn more about past Media Council events.