Geraldine Laybourne

Geraldine Laybourne (born May 19, 1947)^[1] is an American serial entrepreneur in media and technology. She led the team that created Nickelodeon in the 80's and 90's and co-founded Oxygen Media. She is co-founder of a tech startup for the creative generation named Katapult.

Early

Laybourne was born Geraldine Bond on May 19, 1947 in Martinsville, New Jersey, a rural community of about 400.^[2] She is the second of four children, born to a former radio writer/actress and community organizer and a stock broker.

Education

Laybourne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Vassar College. After graduation, she went to work for an architectural firm in Philadelphia.^[2] Eventually, she earned a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania.^[3]

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 15 years at Nickelodeon, taking over the management of the network, and started accepting advertising for the network, in 1984.^[2][4]

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 magazine, movie, toy and publishing divisions.

Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards, CableACE Awards and Parents' Choice Awards. The network had a 40% profit margin and explosive growth every year.^[5]

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.^[6]

The character of Helga G. Pataki in the series Hey Arnold! Geraldine takes second name in her honor.

Disney

Laybourne left Nickelodeon in 1996 to become president of Disney-ABC Cable Networks, guiding the growth and overseeing the programming of the Disney Channel and represented the corporate interests in Lifetime, A&E, E!, and The History Channel. She led the development two projects that did not come to fruition: ABC 24 Hour News cable channel and ABZ, an innovative education channel. Laybourne played a role in the creation and management of ABC’s Saturday morning children’s programming schedule, with the successful launch of One Saturday morning. She's said to have felt stifled by the corporate structure at Disney.^[6]

Oxygen Media

In 1998, she left Disney and partnered with Oprah Winfrey 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.^[6]

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.^[5]

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.^[5]

At the end of Laybourne's tenure, Oxygen had 270,000 prime-time weekday viewers in 74 million homes.^[5]

Company Boards

Currently she sits on the Symantec Board,^[7] Betaworks, and 9 Story, a Canadian production and distribution company. She serves as Chairman of the Board of Alloy Inc. and Katapult. Previously, she served on the boards of JC Penney, Electronic Arts, Move.com, Defy Media, and Kindercare.

Awards

In 1996 Laybourne was ranked No. 1 among the 50 Most Influential Women in the Entertainment Industry by The Hollywood Reporternandamed one of the 25 Most Influential people in America by Time Magazine. She 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, Cable Center Hall of Fame,^[8] and the Advertising Hall of Fame. She was inducted into She Made It,^[9] an initiative of the Paley Center in 2005. She is a member of the cable industry's Entrepreneurs Club.

Civic involvement

Laybourne has been on the Board of Vassar College (since 1998). She is an advisor to Springboard, Vital Voices and Acumen Fund. Laybourne sat on the boards or advisory committees of The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, The National Council for Families and Television, New York Women in Film & Television (Advisory Board), and Cable Positive (Honorary Chair), and The White House Project.

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.^[10] Last year the walk was held in 86 countries. She broadly supports young women entrepreneurs and women running for office.

Personal

She and her husband Kit Laybourne, a television producer, entrepreneur, author, and educator, have two children, Emmy and Sam. Emmy Laybourne is the author of the Monument 14 series of young adult novels and an actress appearing in Superstar and other films. Sam Laybourne is a writer and producer for television series such as Arrested Development, Cougar Town, The Michael J. Fox Show, and Grandfathered with John Stamos. They have four grandchildren.

References