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Mindy Herman, W'82
After joining Fox, Mindy Herman
ascended rapidly, ultimately holding
a number of senior-level posts. But it
was in 1993, as senior vice president of
business affairs at FX Networks, that she
played a pivotal role in launching Fox's
first cable network. Herman was active
in all areas of the new network's business,
including programming and strategic
positioning, as well as in the launch
of Fox Sports and Fox Television
Studios. She joined E! in 2000 after a
two-year stint at In Demand L.L.C.,
formerly Viewer's Choice, where she
served as president and CEO.
At E!, she's taken on a burgeoning,
74-million subscriber entertainment
news and lifestyle network. Since its
launch in 1990, E! has seen a compounded
revenue growth rate of 45
percent annually, while estimates
of the company's overall value have
soared from $50 million in the early
1990s to more than $2 billion today.
There's little doubt that E!, initially
created in 1990 to replace the then
three-year-old Movietime cable network,
has gained credibility and viewer loyalty
in recent years, with expanded programming
and a stable of regular stars such
as Joan Rivers and Howard Stern.
Herman's goal, however, is to create an
entertainment-genre powerhouse with
the clout of CNN or MTV. Her plans:
launching four new networks over the
next decade that will help broaden the
assets of the private company, 80 percent
of which is owned in a joint partnership
between Comcast Corp. and the Walt
Disney Co., and securing E!'s place in
the Internet economy. While specifics
are still under wraps, Herman says that
all of the new networks will, like E!,
focus on lifestyle issues. She's also working
toward significant international
expansion, which she believes will be a
key for continued growth.
Keeping a close eye on what the
viewer wants, Herman says, is her greatest
challenge, and much of Herman's
first year at E! was spent tinkering with
programming. A slate of new shows reflects today's grittier
tastes without being salacious. "When NYPD Blue considered
some very tasteful, story-driven partial nudity in 1995 there
was an uproar," she says. "Today, we're putting people in
tanks of rats on television," she says, referring to the increasingly
popular "reality TV" trend. "The subject matter has
gotten a lot edgier and more aggressive."
Even on the telephone, Mindy Herman's strong personality
is apparent. She is funny and at ease, and you can tell that
she's smiling most of the time. Herman doesn't appear slick in
any way — she calls herself a Philly Girl to the core — and she's
proud that she's retained her down-to-earth nature and still
risen to the top in Tinsel Town. She plays softball, reads historical
non-fiction, and is a recreational sports fanatic who
tries to get home each month to see her tight-knit Philadelphia
family. A recent magazine article describes her office
knick-knacks — framed hockey jerseys signed by players from
the LA Kings and Philadelphia Flyers hockey teams, as well as
a Wayne Gretzky helmet — as a bit incongruous for the office
of the head of a television network devoted to Hollywood.
"In this business, you tend to have to fit yourself into the
mold, but I have tried very hard to still be the person that I
was without having to become a slicker, more packaged,
Hollywood version of me," Herman says.
What Herman has that has set her apart is an addiction
to the entertainment industry so strong that she has never
resented working constantly, as well as an ability to "connect
the dots and to see dots that others don't see. The heart of
what I like about business is the idea — coming up with the
idea, the strategy, and figuring out the best way to execute
that strategy," Herman says.
Despite what looks like an effortless rise to the top,
Herman initially had difficulty convincing the powers-that-be
at Fox that she was more than someone who "went back to
her office and drafted contracts all day." Very early on, she
knew that she wanted a broader operating role within the
company, but couldn't convince senior executives to think of
her as much more than an attorney.
How did she break in finally? A key, interestingly, was her
interest in sports. "Growing up as a kid in Philly, with the
success of the Flyers and the Phillies winning the World Series
and the Eagles making the Super Bowl, I was a sports junkie,"
Herman says. "My dad has two girls, and I was the baby. He
took me to a lot of games. When Fox started getting into the
sports business, I was one of the people on the team. And it
became pretty obvious to not only the people at Fox but also
some of the folks in the league that I knew a lot about sports.
That was one of the first opportunities where I could take
more of a business role rather than a pure lawyer role and
craft our strategy for getting into the sports business." It also
gave her the chance, she says, to "bond with the guys."
Today, Herman is frustrated by the small number of
women in senior television positions, particularly given the
fact that the cable television business started out as a haven
for talented women executives who were often overlooked
by the major networks.
"A lot of women were able to get their start in the cable
business because it wasn't viewed as a multi-billion dollar
business. But over the years, it turned out that those little
cable channels ended up with valuations of $3-, $5-,
$10-billion dollar enterprises." The result: the business caught
the eye of talent — often male — from the major networks.
Women, to some degree, have been nudged aside.
What does Herman suggest to alums interested in the
entertainment field? First, she says, be willing to accept an
entry-level post. "Once you've gotten in, just work really hard.
Be smart; get to know people, and always have a point of view."
Looking back, Herman believes this willingness to speak
up, even when her ideas were wrong, was critical. "There are
a lot of people who can do analysis, while other people make
the decisions and craft the strategy. You should go in not
only with your analysis but also with your view of what to
do with it. You have to speak up, and you have to do it with
a thoughtful point of view. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's
the right point of view, but you have to be willing to give your
opinion."
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