The company acquired Brandon Burgess, a CEO at NBC Universal who orchestrated the merger between NBC and Universal. He is a Wharton School of Business MBA and former GOLDMAN SACHS Investment Banker, as well as a former exec for Pepsico.
Brandon Burgess joined ION Media Networks in November 2005. Mr. Burgess has engineered and launched a series of forward-thinking initiatives to position the company for growth, using its national broadcast network and assets.
Mr. Burgess has initiated strategic relationships with content partners who deliver programming to the network’s 90+ million homes. Such suppliers include Warner Bros., Sony and NBC Universal, providing ION viewers with popular television series and feature films. Most recently, ION partnered with RHI Entertainment, which owns over 4,000 hours of award-winning television content, to provide its television network with high-quality primetime weekly programming beginning July 2007.
Mr. Burgess has also positioned ION as a leader in digital broadcasting, using its nationwide digital terrestrial spectrum assets. He led the formation of a joint venture among ION Media Networks, Scholastic, Corus Entertainment, Classic Media and NBC Universal, to launch qubo, a new television and multimedia network devoted to children, focused on literacy and positive values. Another initiative is the country’s first network dedicated to consumer health, prevention and wellness.
Prior to joining ION, Mr. Burgess served as Executive Vice President for NBC Universal, where he was credited for evolving the NBC broadcast network into an integrated global multimedia portfolio. He was the architect of NBC’s acquisition of Universal Entertainment, creating NBC Universal. He handled the restructuring of Rainbow Media, giving NBC its first entertainment cable channel, Bravo. During his tenure, he also oversaw extensive broadcast acquisition projects, growing NBC’s owned-and-operated station group from 13 to 30 stations. As Co-Head of the NBC Affiliates Futures Committee, he emphasized digital growth among the affiliated broadcast station groups. This resulted in the NBCOlympics.com online venture joined by more than 200 affiliate stations, as well as NBC Weather Plus, the first U.S. digital multicast broadcast network, in a network-affiliate joint venture.
Before joining NBC, Mr. Burgess worked in PepsiCo’s Corporate Planning group in Purchase, New York, and in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in London and Frankfurt.
Raised and educated in Germany, Mr. Burgess is a graduate of the European Business School and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He serves on the Board of the National Association of Broadcasters and is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a member of its first class of "Young Global Leaders." Mr. Burgess resides in Palm Beach, Florida with his wife Saira.
