PETER LIGOURI NAMED PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY
Los Angeles, CA, March 24, 2005 - Peter Liguori has been named President, Entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The announcement was made by Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation. Mr. Liguori will be responsible for all FOX program development and scheduling, as well as marketing, business affairs and promotions.
Prior to today's appointment, Mr. Liguori served as President and CEO of News Corp.'s FX Networks since 1998, where he oversaw business and programming operations for FX and the Fox Movie Channel. Under his leadership, FX rose from a nascent network to one of the top five basic cable networks with critically acclaimed programs like "Nip/Tuck," "The Shield" and "Rescue Me" and the award-winning FX Original Movies franchise, home to highly-regarded films including "Redemption," "The Pentagon Papers" and "44 Minutes."
"Peter has done an extraordinary job with FX," Mr. Chernin said. "He took what was largely a blank slate and turned it into arguably the hottest network in cable. He's produced more quality cable programming in the past three years than anyone in the business and has raised the bar for distinctive television. Peter is taking over FBC at a time when the network is in as good a competitive position as it's ever been, and that's thanks in large part to the leadership and creative instincts Gail Berman demonstrated in her five years at FOX. I look forward to seeing Peter make his own mark on the network."
"I'm delighted with the opportunity Peter has given me to take the helm of a network that has always been at the forefront of original, ambitious programming," Mr. Liguori said. "FOX's exceptional team of creative executives has succeeded in breaking the mold with a year-round programming model and I could not be more excited to work with them to roll out the network's impressive new development slate."
The critically acclaimed original programming that has been the heart of Mr. Liguori's strategy for FX has helped boost its subscriber base from 39 to more than 84 million homes in five years. This growth, coupled with historically high ratings, has led FX to all-time highs in advertising and affiliate revenues. In the past three years, FX has been honored with more industry awards than any other basic cable network for its original movies like "The Pentagon Papers," "RFK" and "Redemption and its original series, "Rescue Me," "The Shield," and "Nip/Tuck."
Most recently, Mr. Liguori and the FX team, led by John Landgraf, have developed several new series scheduled to premiere later this year, including "30 Days," a new documentary series from Academy Award nominee Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"); scripted comedies
"Starved" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia;" the battle drama "Over There," from Stephen Bochco; and "Thief," starring Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher.
An executive with broad consumer marketing as well as programming experience, Mr. Liguori joined FOX/Liberty Networks in 1996 as Senior Vice President, Marketing for a new joint venture, which today includes Fox Sports Net, FX, Fox Sports World, SPEED and the National Geographic Channel.
Prior to joining Fox, Mr. Liguori was Vice President, Consumer Marketing at HBO. He also held several positions in HBO's Home Video division, including Vice President, Marketing and Senior Vice President, Marketing, where his duties included the creation and implementation of marketing programs for all HBO Home Video product expansion and development of its programming line-up.
Mr. Liguori also has experience in the feature film business as a producer of the well-known independent film "Big Night." Before HBO, he worked in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi.
News Corporation had total assets as of December 31, 2004 of approximately US$53 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$22 billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media and entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.
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