ALEXANDRIA, Va., MAY 14, 2002 - The PBS Sponsorship Group, public television's national underwriting sales force, has recently promoted Ellen Flahive to executive director. The announcement was made by Judy Harris, executive vice president, PBS Business and Development, who also servers as chairperson of the Sponsorship Group's board of directors. Ms. Flahive joined the Sponsorship Group in December of 2001 as national sales director.
The PBS Sponsorship Group, which pools the corporate sales resources of four major producing stations, as well as other members of the public television community, was established in 1997. Based in New York City, the company has generated more than $267 million of corporate support, including renewals, while offering outstanding customer service to new and longtime underwriting partners.
"Ellen brings the perfect combination of talent, skill and experience to this position," said Ms. Harris. "Given her successful track record in sales and sales management, as well as the outstanding work she has already done with the Sponsorship Group, I am confident that under her leadership the organization will continue to maximize revenue and provide excellent customer service to our corporate and public television partners."
In her new role, Ms. Flahive will lead efforts to further optimize the efficiency of the organization, making it even more effective and sales-focused. Since joining the Sponsorship Group staff last winter, Ms. Flahive has worked closely with sales managers across the country to increase collaboration among partner stations and with independent stations and producers in order to sell across the entire inventory of programs in the Sponsorship Group portfolio. Using her extensive network of contacts, she has significantly increased communication with advertising agencies and potential corporate underwriters.
Prior to joining the PBS Sponsorship Group, Ms. Flahive worked at Meredith Corporation, where she was publisher of the American Park Network, a collection of 21 magazines for America's premiere national parks. Ms. Flahive went to Meredith after her tenure at Parade, where she served as vice president / advertising sales director for the weekly Sunday newspaper magazine. She spent 1989 to1993 as publisher of Inside Media at Cowles Magazines and held sales and sales management positions from 1984 to 1989 at Advertising Age and City & State, publications owned by Crain Communications. Ms. Flahive began her career at Family Circle magazine, where she was a broadcast publicist.
A summa cum laude graduate from Siena College, Loudonville, NY, Ms. Flahive currently serves as immediate past president of Advertising Women of New York.
The PBS Sponsorship Group portfolio includes such signature programs as AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, AMERICAN MASTERS, ARTHUR, CAILLOU, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, CYBERCHASE, FRONTLINE, NATURE, NOVA, TELETUBBIES, WALL $TREET WEEK WITH FORTUNE, ZOBOOMAFOO and ZOOM. These and other programs are available for sponsorship individually or in packages.
The PBS Sponsorship Group is a one-stop, client-responsive gateway to national corporate sponsorship of PBS programs. Partners in the Sponsorship Group are Maryland Public Television, WETA Washington, DC, WGBH Boston, WNET New York, and PBS.
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Contact:
Jan McNamara
703-739-5028
PBS Sponsorship Online