Herbert A. (Herb) Granath

Chairman Emeritus, ESPN

Herb Granath is Chairman Emeritus, ESPN, the 24-hour cable sports network.

He is Co-Chairman of Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which owns and operates The Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.

He also serves as Vice Chairman of Central European Media, (CME), Ronald Lauder’s international company, which owns television and radio stations, together with associated internet businesses, in central and eastern Europe.

Additionally, he acts as Senior Content Advisor to Telenet, Belgium’s leading cable company.

Previously, Mr. Granath was Chairman, Disney/ABC International, where he was responsible for the international program production and distribution activities of The Walt Disney Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, ABC, Inc.

Mr. Granath had a long and distinguished career at ABC, where he was a pioneer in many aspects of the television business. He led ABC into the cable and international arenas, and helped position the company as the industry leader in these fields.

During this time, he developed and served as Chairman of the Board of ESPN, A&E, The History Channel and Lifetime Television.

Internationally, he was a founding partner and Board member of Eurosport, the largest cable network in Europe. He also was a Board member of Telefunf, RTL2 and TM3 networks in Germany, Scandanavian Broadcasting Systems (SBS), and TVA, the Brazilian Pay-TV company.

An early believer in European local television production, he brought ABC into partnership with, and joined the Boards of Telemunchen (Germany), Hamster (France) and Tesauro (Spain) production companies.

For over twenty years, Mr. Granath managed ABC’s theater investments through the company’s partnership with The Shubert Organization.

Active in many areas within and outside broadcasting, he is past-president of the International Emmys, and is currently Chairman Emeritus of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the EMMY organization). He is a Director of the International Radio and Television Society, a member of the Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on European Communications, and the League of New York Theater Owners and Producers (which administers the TONY Awards). In former years, he was President of the Veterans Bedside Network, which serves VA hospitals, and a member of the New York City Council for Motion Pictures, Radio and Television during the Giuliani administration.

Included in the numerous awards he has received are two TONY Awards, along with six TONY nominations, an International EMMY (Lifetime Achievement in International TV) as well as a U.S. EMMY (Lifetime Achievement in Sports Television.) Recently, he was voted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

Mr. Granath graduated from Fordham University, where he also did his graduate work.

He is a member of Fordham’s Board of Trustees. In 1996, Mr. Granath received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College. He served in the U.S. Army, assigned to Special Services as a writer/producer.

He is married to actress Ann Flood. They have four children, Kevin, Brian, Peter and Karen, eleven grandchildren, and reside in Darien, Connecticut.

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