Ganeless Named Comedy Central President
Former Executive Vice President and General Manager Takes Over for Doug Herzog
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/5/2007 3:08:00 PM
Michele Ganeless, executive vice president and general manager of Comedy Central, was named president of the Viacom-owned cable network.
Ganeless was present at the birth of the channel (then Ha!) as a researcher for Viacom in the early 1990s, remained through the merger with Time Warner's Comedy Channel, returned after a stint at MTV, then followed boss Doug Herzog to USA Network, then back again to Comedy in 2004.
Herzog, former Comedy Central president and now president of MTV Networks Entertainment Group, tapped Ganeless to take over the reins of the channel. He left the top spot at Comedy in December 2006, when MTV created the entertainment group.
“She’s one of the key architects of Comedy Central,” Herzog told B&C recently, “and she’s one of the true leaders to take it into its next phase.”
That phase includes spreading the comedy brand beyond the stand-up stage and the linear channel to a variety of delivery platforms.
Michael Malone contributed to this report.
