Cablefax Unveils the 2025 Most Powerful Women
Let’s hear it for the Cablefax 2025 Most Powerful Women, who were unveiled Thursday morning during a celebration brunch at NYC’s Current. Attendees were the very first to get their hands on Cablefax: The Magazine’s special issue, but you can read the digital edition here and read the full Q&As on our website.
The event was uplifting from start to finish, with Mentor of the Year Crystal Kemp of Conway Corp sharing a quote from America’s first Black Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Kemp said she keeps the adage in her office as a reminder. “If you’ve ever helped set up a room with folding chairs, you probably didn’t just grab one. You stack them up—load up both arms, and bring as many as you can in one trip. And I truly believe that this little girl from Arkansas is standing here because people like you carry chairs, not just for yourselves, but for other people,” she said.
Women’s Advancement Champion Katie Arkins of Bleacher Report talked about Felicia Pasadyn, a 23-year-old med student who finished 14th in the NY Marathon (only her third 26.2-miler ever) and qualified for 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Arkins heard the athlete on a recent podcast, where she spoke about her successes and achieving all the goals she’d set. “It stood out to me because it is so rare to hear women speak so highly of themselves. We have been conditioned not to boast, not to be pushy, not to ask for too much. And here was a 23-year-old who was confidently owning her achievements,” Arkins said. “If there is anything that I hope to pass to the next generation of female leaders, and if there is one thing that I hope to accomplish running Bleacher Report women’s sports brand BR/W Sports, it is encouraging women to own, acknowledge and celebrate their successes.”
The Most Powerful Women and Rising Tide honorees, which included top movers and shakers at AMC Networks, Charter, Warner Bros. Discovery, DIRECTV, Cox, GFiber and other media and connectivity companies, were highlighted on stage and given permanent jewelry as a memento of the day. A shout-out to MPW and ESPN SVP, Marketing Jo Fox who snagged first place in a highly competitive trivia game. New this year was Cablefax’s Power Team Awards, recognizing ensembles of women leading mission-critical groups in broadband infrastructure, customer experience, revenue strategy, distribution, content operations, and emerging technology. DIRECTV’s all-female retransmission team, the five women on Starz’s Executive Team and Vyve Broadband’s Customer Experience team took home the inaugural honor.
Closing out the celebration were CFX’s 2025 Impact Award honorees Kate Bouldan and Sara Sidner of “CNN News Central.” And while their journalistic impact was celebrated, they offered reverence to the executives in the room leading the industry through a shifting streaming world. “I’m here to simply say that you are the heroes that we are all looking for. You are in the midst of a titanic shift in a business that is changing constantly at lightning speed, and it’s going to take some courage, and it’s going to take a lot of creativity, and it’s going to take thinking about what’s right, but also what’s sustainable. Women have a particular knack for doing just that,” said Sidner.
Bouldan shared a note from their CNN News Central co-host John Berman: “I would like to congratulate Kate and Sarah for edging me out for an Impact Award at the Cablefax Most Powerful Women event. I’m sorry I’m not there to celebrate. Also, I was not invited. I cannot think of two more deserving women for this recognition. They are brilliant, relentless and so humble… They probably won’t read this next part, but their commitment to both journalism and kindness should be an inspiration to us all.” Sorry, John. We’ll save you a seat in 2026.