Saban Brands appoints Janet Scardino as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the company’s media operations across television, digital and games.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Saban Brands has appointed Janet Scardino as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Scardino will oversee Saban Brands’ media operations across television, digital and games, as well as content distribution and ad sales for all properties worldwide. In this new role, Scardino will work closely with President Elie Dekel and Chief Financial Officer William Kehoe to manage Saban Brands’ continued growth and expansion of the business globally.
Scardino joins Saban Brands with highly relevant experience in building successful television, online and mobile businesses for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Disney, MTV, AOL, Reuters and American Idol.
“Janet’s impressive achievements in television, digital media and technology make her a strong addition to our team as we continue our expansion globally,” said Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands, to whom Scardino reports. “Janet brings proven experience and results in developing successful media brands and forging strategic relationships with our distribution, advertising and retail partners. We are thrilled to have her on board and look forward to her contributions and leadership.”
Janet Scardino held senior operational and marketing roles in television and digital, both in the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, Scardino served as CEO for the public company Viggle, the first loyalty program for television and an early entrant in Social TV. Previously, Scardino was President of Branded Entertainment for 19 Entertainment, the creators of American Idol. At Reuters, she was EVP & Managing Director of the consumer digital media businesses in the U.S. and Europe. As President & CMO of the life-stage media company The Knot, Scardino was charged with expanding the business from bridal into first-home and first-baby, with The Nest and The Bump. Scardino also entered digital media at AOL, where she served as SVP of International Marketing across 16 countries.
Scardino started her career in television at Disney and MTV. She was Managing Director of the Disney Channel in Italy, responsible for launching and operating the successful kids channel. She began her career at MTV, where she held various positions in Programming, Production and Marketing. Scardino managed the launches of seven new MTV channels internationally, expanding MTV’s reach into 100 million more homes.
“I am honored to join Saban Brands and this world-class team,” said Scardino. “Haim Saban’s track-record is truly remarkable, both creatively and commercially. At Saban Brands, the vision is to build iconic global brands that engage fans across TV, digital, games and consumer products in a fully integrated approach. In three years, the company has already achieved impressive growth in scaling its core properties, especially with Power Rangers and Paul Frank. I look forward to working with Elie and the team to build on this momentum worldwide.”
Source: Saban Brands
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
