Award-Winning Television Historian Tim Brooks Announces Retirement as Lifetime Networks Head of Research Effective at End of Year

Award-Winning Television Historian Tim Brooks Announces Retirement as Lifetime Networks Head of Research Effective at End of Year

NEW YORK, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning television historian Tim Brooks, whose seminal book The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present is considered the pre-eminent industry reference work, will conclude his remarkable 30-plus-year career as a research executive when he retires as Lifetime Networks' Executive Vice President of Research at the end of 2007.

Brooks, whose career has spanned senior positions at NBC, USA Networks and NW Ayer, joined Lifetime in January 2000. His many accomplishments include an American Book Award for The Complete Directory (the ninth edition will be out this fall) and a 2007 Grammy Award for Best Historical Album for the CD adaptation of his book Lost Sounds, which profiled the role of African- Americans in the earliest years of the recording industry.

Said Brooks, "Whether it's 'Gunsmoke,' 'Dallas' or 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' even the longest-running television series eventually comes to an end, as does this phase of my work in television. I have been fortunate enough to work with exceptional colleagues whose intelligence, warmth and professionalism have made every day a delight. I'm especially proud of what the team here at Lifetime has accomplished in building this incredible brand. Now I'm looking forward to devoting myself full-time to writing about television, and diverse other subjects."

Said Andrea Wong, President and CEO, Lifetime Networks, "I've always been impressed by Tim's sage perspectives on the state of television. Now that I've had the pleasure of working with him, I see first-hand all he has contributed to the success of the company these past seven years. Not only will we miss him, but so will the entire industry, which has relied on Tim as an invaluable resource of information and insights. We all wish him the very best of luck."

In reviewing the evolution of television in recent years, Brooks has a few observations:

-- The last 20 years have seen a fundamental shift in television from the
one-size-fits-all of TV's first four decades to branded, personal "for
me" channels. It began with the rapid rise of cable in the 1980s, which
introduced the very idea of branding to television (Nick for kids, MTV
for teens, Lifetime for women, many individual channels for fans of
specific program types such as sports, news, sci-fi, etc.). It
accelerated with the vast increase in high-profile original production
aimed at specific audiences on cable in the 1990s and 2000s.

-- The single most influential program of the past 20 years is in my
opinion "Survivor." It turned TV's historic stars-talking-to-you model
on its head, and made "us" the stars. The "Survivor" "cast" was not
only made up of real people but a cross section of people that all
could identify with, younger, older, male, female, different races,
etc. It has ignited a vast wave of "real" (though heavily orchestrated)
shows across both broadcast and cable, and dovetails with the rise of
new entertainment technologies that are similarly centered on "us" -
YouTube, Myspace, DVRs, etc.

-- "Survivor" was not literally the first show ever to do this, but it was
the smash hit that made the difference.

Tim Brooks

Tim Brooks was named Executive Vice President, Research, Lifetime Entertainment Services, in June 2003. Previously he was Senior Vice President, Research.

Prior to Lifetime, Brooks was Senior Vice President, Research for USA Networks, where he helped structure the programming plan for the launch of the Sci-Fi Channel and USA's Latin American and European networks. He joined USA Networks as Vice President in 1991.

Before joining USA Networks, Brooks was Senior Vice President/Media Research Director for NW Ayer from 1989 until 1990. Brooks was at NBC from 1977 to 1988, holding various positions, including Director, Program and Advertising Research, and Director, Television Network Research.

A member of the CTAM Board of Directors, Brooks is also Chair of the Video Electronic Media Council of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and was the cable industry's first representative to be elected Chairman of the Board of both the Media Rating Council (MRC) and the ARF. He is a recipient of the Cable Advertising Bureau's Jack Hill Award for Excellence and Integrity in Media Research. Brooks also serves as a Mentor in the Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) Executive Mentoring Program.

Brooks was an adjunct professor of communications at Long Island University. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College and a master's degree in television-radio from Syracuse University.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. LIFETIME Television, LMN, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including LifetimeTV.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Lifetime

CONTACT: Sydney Van Gorp, Corporate Communications, +1-212-424-0991,
vangorp@lifetimetv.com, or Gary Morgenstein, +1-212-424-7162,
morgenstein@lifetimetv.com, both of Lifetime

Web site:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/

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