Sameel Osuri

While overseeing financial and strategic planning for two of Discovery’s highest-profile business units—the flagship network and the Domestic Distribution team—Osuri played a pivotal role in Discovery’s affiliate renewal negotiations, striking comprehensive agreements with Comcast and SVOD distributors alike, securing carriage of the company’s 13 domestic networks. He also handles finances for Discovery Education, which serves more than 30 million students around the world. As for diversity in cable, Osuri says, “We’ve come a long way organizationally, but only scratching the surface on-screen.” Of current series’ diversity efforts, he says, “Plenty embrace it, I think the challenge is embracing it in an organic and compelling way. I’ll go all the way back to ‘The Wire’ as an example where diversity enriched a story without becoming the story.”

What grade do you give the cable industry on diversity and why?
We’ve come a long way organizationally, but only scratching the surface on-screen.

The technology that will most benefit cable over the next year is…
Operating systems, whether in a box or app, that allow consumers to more easily engage with their content. Cable is still the best entertainment value out there, but platform matters.

What television show/s – cable or broadcast – best embrace diversity?
Plenty embrace it, I think the challenge is embracing it in an organic and compelling way. I’ll go all the way back to The Wire as an example where diversity enriched a story without becoming the story.

My personal election campaign slogan would be…
We the People

Favorite charity organization you work with?
Street Sense, a “street paper” in Washington, D.C., that provides income but more importantly purpose and dignity to our city’s homeless community. I’m a bit biased as it was founded by my amazing wife, but it really is a great program.  Check it out at streetsense.org.