- Geraldine Laybourne
Geraldine Laybourne founded
Oxygen Media and has served as its chairman andchief executive officer until it was sold in 2007 to NBC Universal. Oxygen was launched in 2000 to fill a void in thetelevision landscape -- creating atelevision network targeted to youngerwomen . Oxygen is the only women-owned and operatedcable network . Available in more than 71 million cable households, Oxygen airs series including "Campus Ladies", "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency ," "Talk Sex with Sue Johanson ," and "The Bad Girls Club ."Career
A pioneer in creating innovative television programming for kids, Laybourne spent 16 years at Nickelodeon, taking over the management of the network in 1984.
Laybourne and her team were responsible for creating and building the Nickelodeon
brand and, in 1985, for launching Nick at Nite, the successful primetime line-up of retro sitcoms. Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won some honors, including Emmys, Peabodys, CableACE and Parent’s Choice awards. She further expanded the brand by launching and distributing Nickelodeon programming to countries around the world, developing theme park attractions, and creating Nickelodeon movie, toy and publishing divisions.Under Laybourne's stewardship, Nickelodeon became the first global television network to
profit from sellingadvertising tochildren .Prior to starting Oxygen, Laybourne was president of
Disney/ABC Cable Networks (from 1996–1998) where she was responsible for overseeing cable programming for theWalt Disney Company . While there, she was also in charge of developing future television programming for cable and other platforms. In addition, Laybourne played a role in the creation andmanagement of ABC’sSaturday morning children’s programming schedule.Awards
Laybourne has been singled out for her many contributions to the industry. She was ranked No. 1 among the 50 most influential women in the entertainment industry by The Hollywood Reporter in 1996 and named one of the 25 most influential people in America by Time magazine that same year. Her numerous awards include 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, and the Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Award. Her other honors include 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 American Women in Radio and Television Genii Award, the Women in Cable Award, and the Sara Lee Corporation’s Frontrunner Award. She also received both the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and the New York Women in Film Muse Award. In 1995, she was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. In October 2004 she was inducted into The Cable Center Hall of Fame.
Civic Involvement
Laybourne sits on a number of boards and advisory committees, including The National Cable Television Association, 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, and Insight Communications.
Personal
Laybourne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Art History fromVassar College and a Master of Science degree inElementary Education from theUniversity of Pennsylvania . Prior to herentertainment career, Laybourne was a teacher, conducted research with children and was an earlyadvocate of education through media. A native ofMartinsville, New Jersey , she and her husband Kit, a producer, author andanimator , have two children and two grandchildren.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.