Lindsay Gardner

For other people named Lindsay Gardner, see Lindsay Gardner (disambiguation).
Lindsay Gardner
Born Lindsay Gardner
June 3, 1960
New York, New York
Residence Los Angeles, CA
Nationality American
Alma mater Brandeis University
Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
Occupation Media executive
Board member of IZEA, Courage Campaign

Lindsay Gardner is an American media executive and strategist. An early evangelist of on-demand entertainment services and multi-platform content acquisition and distribution, Gardner served in senior positions at Fox Networks and Cox Communications and as an advisor to media companies including Miramax, Tribune Media, and AMC Networks. He is the chief content officer at Layer3 TV, the next generation MVPD backed by Evolution Media Capital, TPG, Creative Artists Agency and John Paulson. He is also a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital Management, an independent director of IZEA, and a co-owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Gardner was born in New York to Harriet Modell Gardner, a writer, and Gerald Gardner, a television writer and producer. The family moved to Beverly Hills, California when Gardner was five. He attended Beverly Hills High School and later went on to attend Brandeis University, where he served as the editor of the college's newspaper, The Justice. During school breaks, he worked in television and print media, and during the summer of 1980 he served as a general assignment reporter at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Gardner graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Economics in 1982, and earned an MBA from the Wharton School in 1989.[6][7][8]

Career

Prior to his college graduation, Gardner was recruited by Satellite News Channel (SNC), a 24-hour news channel, and joined the company at its launch in June 1982. Although hired primarily a writer, Gardner was involved with all aspects of content production, and after SNC went off the air in 1983 due to distribution issues, Gardner was hired to produce Eyewitness News for WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. During Gardner’s four years at WWL, Eyewitness News dominated the New Orleans television ratings, and won several awards, including an Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. Gardner left WWL in 1987 to attend Wharton.[9][10]

In 1989, after receiving his MBA, Gardner was hired by Viewer's Choice, (now iNDEMAND Networks). As the executive director of new business, he oversaw strategic planning and research. In 1993 he was named director of programming at Cox Communications, where he launched joint-venture channels BBC World, BBC Prime, Gems Televisión, Outdoor Life Network, and Speedvision. In 1999, Gardner joined Fox Networks, and in 2006 he was promoted to president of affiliate sales and marketing. At Fox, he launched networks such as Fox Sports Networks, National Geographic Channel, Fox Reality, Speed Channel, Fuel TV, and Fox College Sports Atlantic, Central and Pacific. Additionally, he oversaw deployment of high-definition, video-on-demand and other digital services. He left Fox in 2007 to become a partner at MediaTech Capital Partners. There, he co-founded digital media companies, including Channel Islands, which delivers advanced advertising systems to international cable operators, Porto Media, and Beijing-based Reach Media, which delivers ad-supported video content to buses, subways, cellphones and television.[3][3][11][12]

From 2010 through 2013, Gardner served as strategic advisor to the CEO of Miramax. He conceptualized Miramax's digital distribution plan and led its execution through agreements with Netflix and Hulu+.[13]

He has been a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm with $103 billion under management, since 2010. He was appointed an independent director of IZEA in 2013, which is listed on NASDAQ as of January, 2016 (NASDAQ: IZEA).[14][15]

Gardner's team at Layer3 TV is credited with building one of the most robust television lineups of any provider, and according to some, giving Layer3's unique distribution topology the ability to pass millions of homes while leveraging the current broadband infrastructure without actually traversing the public Internet.[16] Gardner coined the phrase "concierge cable" in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter when asked to characterize Layer3's focus on customer experience.[17][18][19]

Philanthropy and personal life

Gardner is Chairman of the Board of the Courage Campaign Institute, a Los Angeles based non-profit which seeks to defend and extend human rights through leadership-development training, strategic research and public education.[20][21] He was the National Finance Chairman of Rep. Harold Ford’s 2006 US Senate campaign and was a member of President Obama’s National Finance Committee and a trustee of the Economic Innovation Institute and Action Fund.[22][23]

Gardner currently resides in Denver, CO and has two children.[6][24]

References

  1. ↑ Spangler, Todd (October 21, 2014). "Lindsay Gardner, Former Fox Networks Exec, Joins Virtual-Cable Startup Layer3 TV". Variety. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Baumgartner, Jeff (October 21, 2014). "Lindsay Gardner Joins Layer3 TV". Multi Channel News. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 New York Times staff (May 26, 2004). "Fox Shuffles Cable Offerings". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Block, Alex Ben (May 26, 2011). "Miramax Hires Two TV Industry Veterans as Strategic Advisers". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Layer3 TV to Launch in Chicago Soon, Backed by Altice and John Paulson (EXCLUSIVE)".
  6. 1 2 "Karen Kesselman, Ad Executive, Wed". New York Times. June 24, 1990. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Beverly Hills High School (1975), Beverly Hills, CA". Mocavo. Beverly Hills High School. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Former Justice staffers return to campus for Reunion". Brandeis University. Brandeis University. June 12, 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "SNC Final Episode (credits at 6:43)". You Tube. Satelitte News Channel via YouTube. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "WWL TV New Orleans". yatedo.com. Yatedo. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Becker, Ann (March 22, 2007). "Fox Cable Nets Distribution Chief Leaving Company". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  12. ↑ Umstead, R. Thomas (August 23, 2007). "Fox Affiliate Chief Exits". Multi Channel News. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Weinstein, Joshua L. (May 26, 2011). "Miramax Pushes into Television". The Wrap. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "IZEA Inc. Common Stock Quote & Summary Data". Nasdaq. Nasdaq. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Burnett, Richard (February 12, 2014). "Social-media ad firm raises capital to add 40 jobs". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Layer3 TV Coming to Denver 'Soon': Report | Multichannel". www.multichannel.com. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  17. ↑ "Startup Takes Aim at Comcast, Time Warner With "Concierge Cable" Service".
  18. ↑ "Layer3 TV targeting premium market, calls itself 'concierge cable'".
  19. ↑ "Pay-TV Startup Targets High-End Video Customers Layer3 TV offers robust package of channels and souped-up set-top box, despite industry's growing focus on cord cutters".
  20. ↑ "Courage Campaign: About". Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "COURAGE CAMPAIGN INSTITUTE BOARD MEMBER LINDSAY GARDNER ELECTED BOARD CHAIR".
  22. ↑ Gardner, Lindsay (October 12, 2008). "The Bradley Effect". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  23. ↑ "Board of Trustees". Economic Institute. Economic Institute. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  24. ↑ Daunt, Tina (December 1, 2006). "Their `View': DeVito is welcomed back". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
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