WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) today named Christine Driessen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, ESPN, as the 2014 recipient of its highest individual accolade Woman of the Year. WICT also announced the esteemed 2014 Woman to Watch honorees: Jennifer Mirgorod, Executive Vice President of Brand Distribution for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (Programmer) and Deborah Picciolo, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, Residential Services for Time Warner Cable, Inc. (Operator). The awards will be presented during the WICT Touchstones Luncheon on September 15 at the New York Marriott Marquis, in conjunction with the annual WICT Leadership Conference and during Cable's Diversity Week. The WICT Touchstones Luncheon is sponsored by AMC Networks.
"WICT is proud to honor these three highly accomplished professionals," said Maria E. Brennan, CAE, President & CEO, WICT. "Each honoree exemplifies the WICT Touchstones of Leadership, and as we celebrate their outstanding achievements, we encourage others to emulate their success."
The Woman of the Year award is bestowed on a woman who has made increasingly significant contributions throughout her career to her company and the overall cable telecommunications industry. She is at the top and shows great resolve to help others along their path.
The Woman to Watch award is bestowed on women who show tremendous promise for transforming the industry through their professional accomplishments. They have already demonstrated exemplary leadership skills as well as a strong dedication to the industry and their organizations.
About Christine Driessen
Christine Driessen, Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer for ESPN, is responsible for
overseeing all of the company's financial operations worldwide and
serving as financial advisor on strategic planning for all acquisitions,
new business ventures, programming initiatives and distribution
agreements. Driessen's strong business acumen has most recently played a
key role in the company's major multimedia programming rights deals,
including an historic 20-year agreement with the SEC to create and
operate a multiplatform network. Driessen has been instrumental in the
launches of ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and espnW as
well as negotiating agreements for ESPN's foreign investments. Driessen
joined ESPN in August 1985.
Driessen has received many honors and awards throughout her career. Most recently, she was honored by Women in Sports and Events (WISE) with its 2014 "Women of Distinction" award and ranked #3 by Sports Illustrated in its 2013 "10 Most Influential Women in Sports." She has been consistently recognized by Cablefax Magazine as one of the "Cablefax 100" and one of the industry's "Most Powerful Women in Cable." Driessen was also named a "Wonder Woman" by Multichannel News in 2006. In addition, she was named to BusinessWeek's "Power 100" in 2008.
Driessen is a member of the ESPN Board of Directors. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Women's Sports Foundation.
About Jennifer Mirgorod
Jennifer Mirgorod is Executive Vice
President of Brand Distribution for Turner Network Sales (TNS), the
distribution division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. She oversees
the account management team in developing strategic content distribution
and marketing initiatives for Turner's news and entertainment networks
to serve distribution partners throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She is part of the team responsible for
deal renewal strategy for TNS, as well as expanding linear content
distribution opportunities. Additionally, Mirgorod oversees the
affiliate marketing department and Turner Private Networks. A seasoned
cable veteran, Mirgorod joined TNS in 2003 from Turner Entertainment
Networks in Hong Kong.
Mirgorod is a former board member of the Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Southeast Chapter, was a member of Class XVII of WICT's Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, participated in the inaugural class of the WICT Senior Executive Summit at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2013, and is a graduate of CTAM University.
About Deborah Picciolo
Deborah Picciolo has more than 25
years of experience in the cable and telecommunications industry. She
became Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, Residential
Services for Time Warner Cable (TWC) in May 2013. In this role, Picciolo
is charged with creating a best-in-class field operations organization
and implementing best practices across the entire Technical Operations
organization of TWC. Previously, she served as Regional Vice President
of Operations for the PacWest Region of the company.
Picciolo is a strong advocate for WICT and has received several accolades throughout her career including the WICT Southern California Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also been named among Cablefax Magazine's "Most Powerful Women in Cable." Picciolo participated in the WICT Senior Executive Summit at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a graduate of CTAM University. She currently serves as Chairman of the Board and sits on the Executive Committee of the California Cable Television Association.
About WICT
For thirty-five years, Women in Cable
Telecommunications (WICT) has partnered with cable and
telecommunications leaders to provide professional development programs,
research and services that help advance women in cable media. With
nearly 10,000 members, WICT is the oldest and largest professional
association serving women in the cable and telecommunications industry. Comcast
NBCUniversal, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting
System, Inc. and Suddenlink Communications are WICT's
Strategic Touchstone Partners. Please visit www.wict.org or
follow @WICT on
Twitter for more information.
