Jimmy Fallon
Proudest accomplishment this year: Not a hard one for Fallon, who tells THR, "Bringing The Tonight Show back to New York City for the first time in over 40 years."
Proudest accomplishment this year: Not a hard one for Fallon, who tells THR, "Bringing The Tonight Show back to New York City for the first time in over 40 years."
Her big get: "Judge Judy — and that one will stand the test of time," says Fox News' The Kelly File host. "I know it sounds silly, but she's important to me. I've really looked up her, and I never got to meet her until I launched this show. They said no [to our first asks]. It never caused me to stop loving her, but I was crushingly disappointed whenever I saw her someplace else. Finally she said yes. I was starstruck."
As the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, Pat Fili-Krushel has spent the past year focused on expanding the NBCUniversal news division's digital footprint.
Deborah Turness, president of NBC News, who is a former U.K.-based ITV executive, has been steering Today to harder news. "When I arrived in early August, Today was still losing viewers," she says. "By September, we were back in growth, and we’ve been sustaining year-to-year growth now for seven months."
As Pat Fili-Krushel focuses on digital, new hire Deborah Turness has dedicated her time to getting Today back to No. 1, where it spent 16 years before being knocked off that pedestal by ABC's Good Morning America in April 2012.
Pat Fili-Krushel and Deborah Turness have many wondering if they will poach former GMA anchor Josh Elliott for Today when his six-month noncompete clause ends. All Turness will offer: "He just got hired [by NBC Sports], so that’s as far as it goes, but he’s a great talent, and I’m obviously very happy."
Pat Fili-Krushel and Deborah Turness form a united front at NBC Universal, where the news portfolio has 147 million monthly viewers on air and online.
Pat Fili-Krushel and Deborah Turness are continuing the fight to get Today back to No. 1. "We’re humbled. We aren't arrogant about growth. We’re grateful for every viewer who comes back," Turness tells THR.
Tom Cibrowski, GMA senior executive producer, Ben Sherwood, co-president, Disney-ABC Television Group, and James Goldston, president, ABC News, are heading into the post-Anne Sweeney era when Sherwood succeeds her.
Ben Sherwood tells THR that he is "optimistic about the future of ABC News and GMA. I'm realistic, too, about the fight. If we keep hustling, adapting and innovating, I am confident that our best days are ahead."
SportsCenter's Jay Harris and Jaymee Sire, NFL Live’s Trey Wingo and president, ESPN, and co-chairman, Disney Media Network, John Skipper are part of the most valuable brand in sports media.
John Skipper (seen here with Jaymee Sire, Trey Wingo and Jay Harris) has been on an expansion tear, launching 80 new shows, services or events, including Keith Olbermann’s ESPN2 program, daily soccer show ESPNFC, Colin Cowherd’s Sunday morning football show, the Nine for IX documentary series, Grantland shorts and the acquisition and relaunch of Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.
John Skipper (seen here with Jaymee Sire, Trey Wingo and Jay Harris) revealed how he fends off new challengers such as Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network. "We're live 35,000 hours a year — that's almost four hours a day," he tells THR. "We do it at a very high level. And I think sometimes because we’ve been out there on our own, people underestimate how hard that is to do well."