Years in Cable: 38
Education: University of PA’s Wharton School of Business; MBA, Baruch College.
Best Advice: Never give advice.

With Blank steering the ship, Showtime continues to grow new premium subscribers—a million each year for six of the past seven years—in a world where subs are increasingly hard to come by. And he continues to create new opportunities for the brand, such as solidifying the network as the go-to destination for boxing. It’s clearly working: Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Canelo Alvarez last September was the highest-grossing PPV event of all time. Blank also had big plans for multiplatform and TV Everywhere, and the results are in: The network’s authentication service Showtime Anytime expanded its reach to 80% of its subs, with a goal of reaching 100% penetration in 2014.

I watch the majority of programming on this device: TV

TV show I’d most like to have a cameo in: “Masters of Sex”

John, Paul, George or Ringo? George

Cable exec I’d most like to see twerking: Brian Roberts

Cable exec I’d least like to see twerking: Brian Roberts

I wish Congress would just… get along…

Frank Underwood or Nick Brody? Nick Brody

The technology that will most benefit cable over the next year is: Internet speed

Oscars or Grammys? Oscars

Favorite Restaurant: Maialino Restaurant

Favorite vacation spot: Italy

Alec Baldwin… NY or LA? New York

Desert island album: Any Rolling Stones

Favorite TV show as a kid: “Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

The last time I had a good laugh: Last time I filled out this survey.

Dish I can make and that would impress a celebrity chef: Take out

My favorite business/motivational book: The Tipping Point

If someone forced me to cut the cord and only watch 3 over-the-top shows, they would be: “Homeland,” “Ray Donovan” and “The Big Bang Theory”

The Daily

Subscribe
Wednesday–July 16

Effros: The Rate of Change

So we’re back where we were with rate of return regulation: an incentive to spend more. There’s just not much rate of change in our regulatory thinking.

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Sep 11
2025 Faxies Awards Faxies Nominations Open! Final deadline: 4/4/25
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Carley Ashley, [email protected], for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.