Ellen Kroner

EVP & Chief Communications Officer, AMC Networks

AMC Networks’ chief communications strategist is heading into the home stretch of another banner year—her last in the industry as she gears up to retire at the end of the year. Kroner, Cablefax’s first PR Exec of the Year, will be missed by many. She and her team promoted several new initiatives reflective of the company’s continuing growth and expansion of original content in 2016, including IFC’s “Documentary Now!” and “Take 5,” a new original series of five-minute docs on some of today’s most relevant issues; AMC’s “Preacher”; SundanceTV’s “Rectify”; and WE tv’s “Braxton Family Values.” The biggest story in cable this year according to Kroner? “Consolidation.”

What advice would you give your 13-year-old self?

Be confident, believe in yourself, and don’t worry too much about what other people think of you if you are doing your best.

Which current programming best reflects the kind of women’s roles you like to see and why?

Michonne on “The Walking Dead”; Kate on “This Is Us,” because she represents so many women with class and dignity, and Jane on “Blindspot,” who is very complicated.

What’s been the biggest story in cable this year?

Consolidation