Lucie Salhany Explained

Lucie Salhany
Birth Name:Lucille Susan Mady
Birth Date:25 May 1946
Birth Place:Cleveland, Ohio U.S.
Other Names:Lucie Mady Salhany
Lucille Salhany Polcari
Occupation:Media executive
Years Active:1967-present
Parents:Haliam Jacob Mady
Matilda Thomas Mady
Spouse:John Polcari
Children:2

Lucille "Lucie" Salhany (Arabic: لوسي صالحاني; born May 25, 1946)[1] is an American media executive of Jordanian and Lebanese Heritage.[2] [3] Salhany was the first woman to head a broadcast television network in 1993 in the position as Chairwoman of Fox Broadcasting Company. She later created the United Paramount Network.[4] [5] She has had over 30 years of experience in the entertainment business,[6] [7] and during the height of her career, was one of the most powerful women at the C-Suite level.[8] [9]

Early life

Salhany was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to father Halim "Hal" Jacob Mady, who was Jordanian, and mother Matilda "Tillie" Mady (née Thomas), who was Lebanese.[10] [11] [12] Her parents owned a grocery store in Cleveland.

Salhany graduated from Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, in 1964.[13] Salhany attended Kent State University but after dropping out at age 19, she did not continue her education after more than a year.

Career

TV Broadcasting

In 1967, Salhany got a job as a secretary to the Program Manager at an independent TV station in Cleveland called WKBF-TV. She was continuously promoted, and after training by her boss, when she was 24, she took over his position as Program Manager of the station. In 1975, Salhany became program manager of the Boston TV station, WLVI-TV.

In 1979, Salhany become Vice President for Programming for Taft Broadcasting Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Salhany was responsible for bringing then local Chicago talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey to Taft in a syndication deal. Salhany also championed "The Arsenio Hall Show," "Hard Copy" and "Entertainment Tonight.”

In 1985, Salhany moved to Paramount Domestic Television in Los Angeles as president and supervised the production of shows like Entertainment Tonight, The Arsenio Hall Show, Hard Copy, and .

FOX

In 1991, former Paramount colleague and newly hired FOX Broadcasting CEO Barry Diller asked Salhany to become Chairman of Twentieth Television. When Diller was fired four months later, Rupert Murdoch gave her Diller's job.[14] The position was Chairman of FOX Network.[15]

In 1993, Salhany was responsible for the development the late night show, The Chevy Chase Show,[16] but it was canceled after 6 weeks on air, and was not well received by critics or affiliates alike.[17] The canceled show cost the network tens of millions of dollars. Although Salhany took the network from four nights of programming to seven nights of programming, and was responsible for creating the TV show, The X-Files, which was very successful, and brought the NFL to the network,[18] she left after three and a half years on her five-year contract, saying that Murdoch breached terms of her contract by not maintaining reporting structure. Salhany claimed Murdoch, in meetings in front of others, asked if she was a "fem-Nazi" and what her husband would think of things.[19]

UPN

She moved back to Paramount as they were about to launch the United Paramount Network, also known as the UPN—which later merged with The WB.[20] Salhany was Chief Executive Officer of UPN from 1995 to 1997.[21]

In 1997, after leaving UPN, Salhany moved to Boston, where her husband, a restaurateur, is based, and started a media consultancy business called JH Media. She told Variety in 2001: "It was time I left L.A." She explained that she was done with the TV business. “Television has changed from what it was,” she said. “I don’t want to be one of those people who look back and say ‘do you remember the good old days?’"”

From 1999 to 2002: Salhany was President/Chief Executive Officer of LifeFX Networks, Inc., a publicly held company that developed and patented technologies that create virtual human “stand-ins" as well as “Facemail,” which allows users to send email with a virtual face and voice.[22] [23]

In 2003, Salhany co-founded Echo Bridge Entertainment, LLC.

Hewlett-Packard

Salhany joined the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Board of Directors in January 2002, in connection with the acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation.[24] In 2002, she also became a member of the HR and Compensation Committee.[25]

Salhany was appointed to the Audit Committee in September 2006. In the same month, she became the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee.[26]

As a result of new leadership and heavy criticism of HP’s board, Salhany left HP’s board in 2011.[27] Leo Apotheker, took over as chief of HP in November 2010 and brought in five new directors to diversify leadership.[28]

Leading up to Salhany’s departure, the HP board faced shareholder lawsuits and received criticism from analysts and shareholders, over the hiring of Apotheker. Of the 12-member board who voted to hire Apotheker, the majority of board members had never met Apotheker.[29] [30]

Leadership

Awards

Personal life

Salhany is married to Boston restaurateur John Polcari, Jr. of Regina Pizzeria and Polcari's. They have two sons, Hal and Jake, whom they adopted from Beirut, Lebanon. She was previously married in the late 1960s.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lucille S Salhany - United States Public Records. FamilySearch. 17 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Profile: Lucie Salhany; In a Career of Hits, a Rare Swing and a Miss. Sims. Calvin. January 14, 2003. New York Times.
  3. Book: Reference Library of Arab America: Arab Americans. 1999. Gale Group. Detroit, MI. 978-0-7876-4175-7. 166–167. 680280933.
  4. News: Sims. Calvin. Profile: Lucie Salhany; In a Career of Hits, a Rare Swing and a Miss. 15 November 2015. The New York Times. 14 November 1993.
  5. Book: Mogel. Leonard. Making It in Broadcasting: An Insider's Guide to Career Opportunities. 1994. Collier Books. New York. 978-0-020-34553-4. 268. 1st Collier Books. 15 November 2015. 654831539.
  6. Web site: Seel. Peter B.. Salhany, Lucy [sic] - U.S. Broadcasting Executive]. Encyclopedia of Television. 15 November 2015.
  7. News: Dunkley. Cathy. Catching up with . . . Lucie Salhany. 15 November 2015. Variety. 15 February 2004.
  8. News: Clark. Kenneth R.. Making Waves: Lucie Salhany Takes A Front Seat On TV'ss Roller-coaster. 17 November 2015. Chicago Tribune. 12 April 1992.
  9. News: Diller. Barry. Frank. Richard. Hendricks. John S.. Hubbard. Stanley. Meyers. Barry. Roberts. Brian L.. Salhany. Lucie. Stringer. Howard. West. Donald. Wiley. Richard. Wright. Robert C.. Interface Conference: Telecommunications Issues, Hosted by Broadcast & Cable Magazine. 17 November 2015. C-SPAN. 9 November 1993.
  10. Web site: Halim Mady mentioned in the record of Halim Mady and Matilda Thomas. FamilySearch. 17 November 2015. 23 October 1938.
  11. Web site: Salhany. Lucie. Graduate Communication Series - Lucie Salhany. Lasell College. 15 November 2015. 4 November 2014.
  12. Web site: Pavelecky. Alicia. Taylor. Ashley. The Lebanese Syrian American Junior League Records, Western Reserve Historical Society (MS 5030). Case Western Reserve Historical Society. 17 November 2015. Cleveland, OH. 2009.
  13. Web site: Previous Wall of Achievement Inductees: 2007. Lucie Mady Salhany, Class of 1964. South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools. 17 November 2015.
  14. News: Zurawik. David. Fox's First lady New network chief would rather talk about profitability than gender. 15 November 2015. The Baltimore Sun. 11 January 1993.
  15. News: Frank. Richard. Iger. Robert A.. Kalinske. Thomas J.. Katzenberg. Jeffrey. Laybourne. Geraldine. Salhany. Lucie. Sassa. Scott. Sherr. Lynn. Electronic Media Summit, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Blurred Lines of Programming. 17 November 2015. C-SPAN. 11 January 1994.
  16. News: Kolbert. Elizabeth. The Media Business; Chevy Chase's Ratings Deliver Frowns at Fox. 15 November 2015. The New York Times. 11 October 1993.
  17. News: Carter. Bill. Chevy Chase's Show Canceled After 6 Weeks. 15 November 2015. The New York Times. 18 October 1993.
  18. Web site: Salhany. Lucie. 2013 Commencement Speech. Lasell College. 17 November 2015.
  19. News: Lippman. John. Head of Fox Broadcasting Is Resigning : TV: Lucie Salhany, who helped lure affiliates and the NFL contract, is said to be leaving because of clashes with Rupert Murdoch. 17 November 2015. Los Angeles Times. 7 July 1994.
  20. Book: Daniels. Susanne. Littleton. Cynthia. Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN. 2 May 2011. 2007. HarperCollins. New York. 978-0-06-134099-4. 157–. 136783001.
  21. News: Fabrikant. Geraldine. The Media Business: Chief of United Paramount Network Is Quitting. 15 November 2015. The New York Times. 9 May 1997.
  22. News: Lais . Sami . 22 January 2001 . Is It Real, or Is It LifeFX? . . 15 November 2015.
  23. News: Bernstein. Paula. Lost & Found: Lucie Salhany. 17 November 2015. Variety. 1 May 2001.
  24. Web site: Lucille S. Salhany - Pay Pals - The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post. en. 2018-04-13.
  25. Web site: 2003 Annual Meeting of Shareowners Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement. Hewlett-Packard Company.
  26. Web site: 2007 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  27. News: How Hewlett-Packard lost its way. Fortune. 2018-04-13. en.
  28. News: Hewlett-Packard shakes up board, four to leave. Madway. Gabriel. U.S.. 2018-04-13. en-US.
  29. Web site: 4 HP directors step down after Hurd scandal - Jan. 20, 2011. Julianne Pepitone. money.cnn.com. 2018-04-19.
  30. News: Voting to Hire a Chief Without Meeting Him. Stewart. James B.. 2011-09-21. The New York Times. 2018-04-19. en-US. 0362-4331.
  31. Web site: Monreal. Leslie. Rosenberg. Michelle. Garcia. Richard. ION Media Networks Appoints Lucille S. Salhany and William A. Roskin to Board of Directors. Business Wire. 15 November 2015. 26 June 2006.
  32. News: Chase. Brandon. Lucie Salhany to deliver 2013 commencement address. 15 November 2015. Lasell College - 1851 Chronicle. 1 March 2013.
  33. News: The Deadline Team. Screens Entertainment Association Launches For Multi-Multi-Platform Executives. 15 November 2015. Deadline Hollywood. 18 September 2014.
  34. Web site: The Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. Broadcasting & Cable. 15 November 2015. 21 December 2010.
  35. Web site: Executive of the Year: 1996 Lucie Salhany President and CEO United Paramount Network. Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors. 15 November 2015.
  36. Web site: Avatar Award. Media Financial Management Association. 15 November 2015.
  37. Web site: Groundbreaking Media Executive Lucie Salhany to Speak at Lasell College Commencement. Lasell College. 17 November 2015. 14 February 2013.

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