December 10, 2009

CableFAX: 39. Comedic Duo: Doug Herzog and Michele Ganeless

Doug Herzog

Title: President, MTV Networks Ent Group
Age: 49
Education: BS, Emerson College
Social Media Quotient: 4

Michele Ganeless
Title: President, Comedy Central Last Year: #2
Age: 44
Education: BS, Northwestern
Social Media Quotient: 4

Why Them? Herzog’s group includes Comedy Central, Spike TV and TV Land, but we paired him with Ganeless because the two are longtime colleagues and Comedy reigns as the jewel in the MTVN Entertainment Group. While Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert continue to headline, Ganeless and Herzog have brought in new stars — notably Jeff Dunham. Particularly impressive was the wrangling to bring back The Sarah Silverman Project amidst belt-tightening. The solution? Sharing it with MTVN’s Logo, which will co-finance it.

Not So Funny: With Comedy Central programming head Lauren Corrao exiting at year’s end, there are a lot of question marks.

Year Ahead:? Hard to say what’s ahead until a new programming chief gets to work.

Ganeless:

Trait I Admire Most in People: Grace

Favorite TV Show Not on Comedy Central: Mad Men

Favorite Part of My Job: Watching the genius of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert every night.