Steve Schiffman

President, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD

Steve Schiffman has more than 25 years of experience building global brands and businesses for diverse world-class franchises such as The Weather Channel, NASCAR and Kraft Foods. He brings his strategic vision, leadership and analytical skills to the National Geographic Channel (NGC) as President.

A key executive, Schiffman leads all functions of NGC, including programming, commissioning of global content, marketing, ad sales and digital media. During his tenure, NGC has added a sister network with the successful launch of Nat Geo WILD in the U.S., and has seen its momentum grow across all metrics, establishing new records for ratings and revenue, despite the recent economic downturn. Under his leadership, NGC’s reputation for quality has been widely recognized, as exemplified by receiving one of the top scores for quality for five years running in the prestigious Harris Interactive® 2010 EquiTrend® Brand Tracking Study, and receiving 24 Emmy® nominations for news and documentaries over the past two years.

Most recently, as general manager and executive vice president for NGC from 2007 to 2010, Schiffman head up programming, business affairs, marketing, ad sales, affiliate sales and digital media. Prior, he was NGC’s executive vice president for marketing and digital media from 2002 to 2007, with oversight of marketing, digital media, brand management, communications, business development and research. Schiffman joined NGC in 2002 as executive vice president for marketing and digital media. In that role, he was in charge of consumer and trade strategies, as well as expanding the network across emerging digital platforms. In 2006, he concurrently served as interim chief marketing officer for sister company TV Guide/Gemstar, where he oversaw marketing and branding for all TV Guide properties, including the magazine, channel and Web site.

Within the industry, Schiffman is widely respected and actively involved, currently serving on the Programmer Committee for National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). He recently served as co-chair of the annual Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) Summit and national board member. In June 2005 Schiffman received a Brand Builder Award from PROMAX honoring the industry’s top marketing and promotions executives, and in July 2006 he received a TAMI Award for his volunteer work.

Beginning in 1998, Schiffman was executive vice president of marketing for The Weather Channel, where he led efforts to reposition and expand the network’s brand. He served the prior two years as vice president of strategic marketing at NASCAR, where he also spearheaded broadcast and corporate partnerships. From 1989 to 1997, Schiffman was at Kraft Foods, where he led the Kraft Singles business, the largest brand at Kraft.

Schiffman started his career as an account executive at Ketchum/Mandabach & Simms. He earned his M.B.A. at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration-Marketing from the University of Massachusetts School of Management at Amherst.

Schiffman resides in Maryland with his wife Sue and two daughters, Rebecca and Julia.