Geraldine Laybourne
Encyclopedia
Geraldine Laybourne founded Oxygen Media and served as its chairman and chief executive officer
until it was sold in 2007 to NBC Universal. Oxygen was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television
landscape—creating a television network
targeted to younger women. During her tenure there, Oxygen, available in more than 70 million cable households, was the only women-owned and operated cable network
.
, a rural community of about 400. She is the second of four children, born to a former soap opera actress and a local businessman.
from Vassar College
. After graduation, she went to work for an architectural firm in Philadelphia. Eventually, she earned a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania
.
when he was a senior at Wesleyan College
, but it wasn't until five years later that they ran into each other again. Six months later, they married.
In 1979, Kit convinced her to start a children's television production company with him, Early Bird Productions. One of their first clients was the then obscure cable network, Nickelodeon
, owned by MTV
.
Laybourne was one of the first people to focus on television programming for kids. She spent spent 15 years at Nickelodeon
, taking over the management of the network, and started accepting advertising for the network, in 1984.
Laybourne and her team were responsible for creating and building the Nickelodeon brand
, launching Nick at Nite
and expanding the network by establishing it in other countries, developing theme parks and creating Nickelodeon movie, toy and publishing divisions.
Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won Emmy Award
s, Peabody Award
s, CableACE Awards and Parents' Choice Awards. The network had a 40% profit margin with 36% growth every year.
Laybourne built Nickelodeon into the first global television network to profit
from selling advertising
targeted towards children. Her programming approach, which made a point of talking to children as equals, built the tiny cable network, which had only five employees in 1980, into an $8 billion business.
, guiding the growth and overseeing the programming of the Disney Channel
, Lifetime, A&E
, and The History Channel. Although Laybourne played a role in the creation and management
of ABC
’s Saturday morning
children’s programming schedule, she's said to have felt stifled by the corporate structure at Disney.
and Carsey-Werner Productions
to create Oxygen Media, dedicated to cable and Internet programming for women. She also purchased three women-oriented online services from her former MTV boss, Robert W. Pittman
.
On February 2, 2000 (a date which plays off the chemical compound of oxygen -- O2/O2), the Oxygen Network premiered to 10 million subscribers.
LVMH
was an early investor, but left in 2001 when Laybourne changed strategy from being an Internet company to a television company.
Laybourne initially hired 700 people, but scaled down to 250. The company went on to become profitable in 2004.
Microsoft
billionaire, Paul Allen
, who invested in three rounds of Oxygen, forced Oxygen's sale in the fall of 2007 to NBC Universal for $925 million.
At the end of Laybourne's tenure, Oxygen had 270,000 prime-time weekday viewers in 74 million homes.
, named one of the 25 Most Influential people in America by Time
Magazine and has been awarded the Annenberg Public Policy Center
’s award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Children and Television, the New York Women in Communications Matrix Award for Broadcasting, the Creative Coalition
’s Spotlight Award, the Grand Tam Award from the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), the Governor’s Award from the National Academy of Cable Programming, the Alliance for Women in Media Genii Award, the Women in Cable Award, the Sara Lee Corporation’s Frontrunner Award, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the University of Missouri–Kansas City
and the New York Women in Film & Television
Muse Award.
Laybourne has been inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and the Cable Center Hall of Fame.
, The National Council for Families and Television, New York Women in Film & Television (Advisory Board), Cable Positive
(Honorary Chair), the Board of Trustees of Vassar College, Insight Communications
, Symantec
Corporation, Electronic Arts
, J. C. Penney
, Move.com, and mySkin Inc.
Laybourne started the mentoring program, Global Women's Mentoring Walks, which pairs established and emerging women professionals to engage in mentoring partnerships in communities across the globe.
career, Laybourne was a teacher at bucolic Concord Academy in Massachusetts, she conducted research with children and she was an early advocate
of education through media when she founded the Media Center for Children.
Laybourne is a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2008. However, much of her family is North Dakota Republicans.
She and her husband have two children, Emmy, a writer and actress who appeared in Superstar
and other films, and Lawrence Paterson ("Sam"), a writer and producer for television series such as Arrested Development and Cougar Town
. When Emmy and Sam were children, Laybourne and her husband would frequently use their children in pilots and promos for Nickelodeon, filmed mostly at their house. The kids also had some say in what should go on the air.
Laybourne has four grandchildren. She envisions a future world of media consumption where lines between television and the Internet blur.
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
until it was sold in 2007 to NBC Universal. Oxygen was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
landscape—creating a television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
targeted to younger women. During her tenure there, Oxygen, available in more than 70 million cable households, was the only women-owned and operated cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
.
Early
Laybourne was born Geraldine Bond on May 19, 1947 in Martinsville, New JerseyMartinsville, New Jersey
Martinsville is an affluent unincorporated area located within Bridgewater in Somerset County, New Jersey. Martinsville is located in northeastern Bridgewater near Warren Township; the 08836 ZIP Code takes in the southern extension of Bernards as well...
, a rural community of about 400. She is the second of four children, born to a former soap opera actress and a local businessman.
Education
Laybourne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art HistoryArt history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
. After graduation, she went to work for an architectural firm in Philadelphia. Eventually, she earned a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
.
Marriage
She met her husband, Kit LaybourneKit Laybourne
Kit Laybourne is the Chief Creative Officer for The Whistle, a cross platform media company focusing on kids and sports. He was a founder of Oxygen Media where he executive produced animation, documentary and interactive shows. Kit was a Core Faculty Member in the MA program in Media Studies at the...
when he was a senior at Wesleyan College
Wesleyan College
Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college located in Macon, Georgia, United States.-History:The school was chartered on December 23, 1836 as the Georgia Female College, and opened its doors to students on January 7, 1839. The school was renamed Wesleyan Female College in 1843...
, but it wasn't until five years later that they ran into each other again. Six months later, they married.
In 1979, Kit convinced her to start a children's television production company with him, Early Bird Productions. One of their first clients was the then obscure cable network, Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
, owned by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Nickelodeon
In 1980, Laybourne signed on as program manager at the year-old network, where she initiated the focus-group approach to programming.Laybourne was one of the first people to focus on television programming for kids. She spent spent 15 years at Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
, taking over the management of the network, and started accepting advertising for the network, in 1984.
Laybourne and her team were responsible for creating and building the Nickelodeon brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
, launching Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
and expanding the network by establishing it in other countries, developing theme parks and creating Nickelodeon movie, toy and publishing divisions.
Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
s, CableACE Awards and Parents' Choice Awards. The network had a 40% profit margin with 36% growth every year.
Laybourne built Nickelodeon into the first global television network to profit
Profit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
from selling advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
targeted towards children. Her programming approach, which made a point of talking to children as equals, built the tiny cable network, which had only five employees in 1980, into an $8 billion business.
Disney
Laybourne left Nickelodeon in 1996 to become president of Disney-ABC Cable NetworksDisney-ABC Television Group
Disney-ABC Television Group manages all of The Walt Disney Company's worldwide entertainment and news television properties...
, guiding the growth and overseeing the programming of the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, Lifetime, A&E
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
, and The History Channel. Although Laybourne played a role in the creation and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
’s Saturday morning
Saturday Morning
-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....
children’s programming schedule, she's said to have felt stifled by the corporate structure at Disney.
Oxygen Media
In 1998, she left Disney and partnered with Oprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
and Carsey-Werner Productions
Carsey-Werner Productions
Carsey-Werner Productions is an independent production company founded in 1981 by former ABC writer/producer duo Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner...
to create Oxygen Media, dedicated to cable and Internet programming for women. She also purchased three women-oriented online services from her former MTV boss, Robert W. Pittman
Robert W. Pittman
Robert Warren "Bob" Pittman , is an American businessman and the founder of MTV. On October 2, 2011, Pittman was named CEO of Clear Channel Media Holdings, Inc.. Pittman has also been the CEO of MTV Networks, AOL, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate and Time Warner...
.
On February 2, 2000 (a date which plays off the chemical compound of oxygen -- O2/O2), the Oxygen Network premiered to 10 million subscribers.
LVMH
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., better known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France, France. The company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger...
was an early investor, but left in 2001 when Laybourne changed strategy from being an Internet company to a television company.
Laybourne initially hired 700 people, but scaled down to 250. The company went on to become profitable in 2004.
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
billionaire, Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
, who invested in three rounds of Oxygen, forced Oxygen's sale in the fall of 2007 to NBC Universal for $925 million.
At the end of Laybourne's tenure, Oxygen had 270,000 prime-time weekday viewers in 74 million homes.
Awards
Laybourne has been ranked No. 1 among the 50 Most Influential Women in the Entertainment Industry by The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, named one of the 25 Most Influential people in America by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Magazine and has been awarded the Annenberg Public Policy Center
Annenberg Public Policy Center
The Annenberg Public Policy Center is a center for the study of public policy at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It has offices in Washington, D.C...
’s award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Children and Television, the New York Women in Communications Matrix Award for Broadcasting, the Creative Coalition
Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, politically-active group formed of members of the American entertainment industry....
’s Spotlight Award, the Grand Tam Award from the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), the Governor’s Award from the National Academy of Cable Programming, the Alliance for Women in Media Genii Award, the Women in Cable Award, the Sara Lee Corporation’s Frontrunner Award, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the University of Missouri–Kansas City
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City is a public university located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is a branch of the University of Missouri System. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
and the New York Women in Film & Television
New York Women in Film & Television
is a nonprofit membership organization for professional women in film, television and digital media. A champion of women's rights, achievements and points of view in the film and television industry, NYWIFT is an educational forum for media professionals, and a network for the exchange of...
Muse Award.
Laybourne has been inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and the Cable Center Hall of Fame.
Civic Involvement
Laybourne sits the boards or advisory committees of The National Cable & Telecommunications AssociationNational Cable & Telecommunications Association
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable TV industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation’s cable households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers...
, The National Council for Families and Television, New York Women in Film & Television (Advisory Board), Cable Positive
Cable Positive
Cable Positive was founded in February 1992 by three concerned cable executives, Jeffrey Bernstein, then with Request Television, Brad Wojcoski of HBO and June Winters, with the mission of organizing cable's resources in the fight against AIDS...
(Honorary Chair), the Board of Trustees of Vassar College, Insight Communications
Insight Communications
Insight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
, Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
Corporation, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
, Move.com, and mySkin Inc.
Laybourne started the mentoring program, Global Women's Mentoring Walks, which pairs established and emerging women professionals to engage in mentoring partnerships in communities across the globe.
Personal
Prior to her entertainmentEntertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
career, Laybourne was a teacher at bucolic Concord Academy in Massachusetts, she conducted research with children and she was an early advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
of education through media when she founded the Media Center for Children.
Laybourne is a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2008. However, much of her family is North Dakota Republicans.
She and her husband have two children, Emmy, a writer and actress who appeared in Superstar
Superstar (film)
Superstar is a 1999 comedy film and Saturday Night Live spin-off about a quirky, socially inept girl named Mary Katherine Gallagher. The character was created by SNL star Molly Shannon and appeared as a recurring character on SNL in numerous skits. The story follows Mary Katherine trying to find...
and other films, and Lawrence Paterson ("Sam"), a writer and producer for television series such as Arrested Development and Cougar Town
Cougar Town
Cougar Town is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The series focuses on a recently divorced woman in her forties facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life's next chapter, along with her son, ex-husband, and friends who together make...
. When Emmy and Sam were children, Laybourne and her husband would frequently use their children in pilots and promos for Nickelodeon, filmed mostly at their house. The kids also had some say in what should go on the air.
Laybourne has four grandchildren. She envisions a future world of media consumption where lines between television and the Internet blur.