Steve Gigliotti, Jon Steinlauf, Karen Grinthal, Greg Regis & Donna Stephens

Steve Gigliotti
Title: Chief Revenue Officer, Scripps Networks Interactive
Years in Cable: 15
Education: BBA, Marketing, University of Pennsylvania
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Judge leaders by those who follow.

Jon Steinlauf
Title: President, Ad Sales & Marketing, Scripps Networks Interactive
Years in Cable: 30
Education: Duke University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Listen more than talk. Watch lots of television.

Karen Grinthal
Title: SVP, National Ad Sales, Food Network and Cooking Channel

Greg Regis
Title: SVP, National Ad Sales, Travel Channel and Great American Country
Education: St. John’s University

Donna Stephens
Title: SVP, National Ad Sales, HGTV and DIY Network
Years in Cable: 29
Education: BS (Business Administration)
Best Advice: Believe in yourself and your team.

Gigliotti and his team delivered their third consecutive year passing the $1 billion mark in bookings during the 2014 Upfront. To put it in perspective, that’s more than 10 percent of the total cable Upfront business. As the marketplace evolves, Steinlauf, Grinthal, Regis and Stephens continue to push boundaries to offer advertisers new and unique ways to share their brands and stories with the upscale viewers of Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, GAC, HGTV and DIY Network. The team this year will continue to focus on cross-platform sales opportunities—using on-air, online, in-store, print, social media and brand integration assets to achieve client goals.

Gigliotti
The technology that will most benefit cable over the next year is: TVE—start now; benefits for years.
Favorite vacation spot: Relais San Sanino, Tuscany, Italy
Desert island album? Born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen); Dave Matthews Band, Vegas Live
Favorite TV show as a kid: “The Cisco Kid”
My favorite business/motivational book: HBR’s 10 Must Reads, Harvard Business Review Press series, On Leadership, On Communication and The Essentials

Steinlauf
Favorite screen: Television
Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? Instagram
My favorite newfound hobby: Walking my new puppy
Favorite vacation spot: Italy
Desert island album: Jimmy Buffet
Favorite TV show as a kid: “Brady Bunch”
Dish I can make and that would impress a celebrity chef: I work at Food Network – it can’t be done!

Regis
The biggest innovation in cable over the last year: Competition & Survival Instinct. First year of organic upfront revenue decline. It will force the industry to create better, more relevant content and realize that numbers don’t just go up because they always have.
Favorite screen: The bigger the better. Looking into a tiny screen means you necessarily have to avoid all others; I’d rather not do/become that.
Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? Pinterest. Reaching people through their real passions versus following or being followed seems like a better consumer and business model proposition to me.
Favorite vacation spot: Laguna Beach, CA
My favorite business/motivational book: Flying Without A Net: Turn Fear of Change Into Fuel For Success – Tom Delong

Stephens
Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? Instagram
My favorite newfound hobby: Hiking
Favorite vacation spot: Portland, ORE
Desert island album: Justin Timberlake – 20/20 Experience
Favorite TV show as a kid:  “Charlie’s Angels”