Scott Merrill Siegler
Scott Merrill Siegler | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 15, 1947 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Media investor, television executive |
| Known for | Establishing TriStar Television, Netscape Communications, Pandora Media, Granada America |
Scott Merrill Siegler (born February 15, 1947) is an American media investor and television executive who played a key role in establishing TriStar Television, Netscape Communications, Pandora Media, and Granada America. He was among the pioneering Hollywood leaders to foresee the entertainment possibilities within digital media. In 1993, he collaborated with James H. Clark, the former Silicon Graphics CEO and founder of Mosaic Communications, which later evolved into Netscape Communications.
Early life and education
Siegler was born in Columbus, Ohio and experienced frequent relocations during childhood due to his father’s medical training, ultimately settling in Cleveland. He graduated summa cum laude from Union College in 1969 with a dual focus on English Literature and Philosophy and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
He pursued a master’s degree at the University of Toronto, where he studied under media theorist Marshall McLuhan, whose insights anticipated the rise of the internet. Subsequently, Siegler earned an M.F.A. in cinema and documentary film production from Brandeis University in 1973. After producing independent documentaries, he joined WKYC-TV in Cleveland, earning an Emmy for the documentary They Shall Take up Serpents. In 1978, he furthered his studies at the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies in Los Angeles.
Career
In 1978, Siegler was recruited by Brandon Tartikoff to serve as a current program executive at NBC. Two years later, he transitioned to CBS as vice president of drama development and later comedy programming, where he contributed to series such as Simon and Simon, Falcon Crest, and Magnum, P.I.. At Warner Bros television, holding the role of senior vice president, he helped develop notable shows including Head of the Class, Growing Pains, V, and Night Court.
Siegler launched the television division for TriStar Pictures in 1986, a company partly owned by Coca-Cola and HBO. Within twelve months, TriStar merged with Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television), where Siegler assumed the presidency and managed series like Married... With Children and The Young and the Restless.
Departing Columbia in 1993 to concentrate on digital media enterprises, Siegler joined the boards of early internet firms Tsunami Media and American Cybercast, producing some of the first advertiser-supported online series. He partnered with Jim Clark on plans for an interactive video game TV channel with Nintendo that ultimately did not come to fruition.
As an early investor in Mosaic Communications (which became Netscape Communications), co-founded by Clark and Marc Andreessen, Siegler witnessed its acquisition by AOL in 2002 for $4.2 billion.
He also invested in Savage Beast Technologies (later Pandora Music), chairing its board from 1998 through 2001. In 2002, Siegler joined Strauss Zelnick at ZelnickMedia, a private equity firm specializing in media companies with innovative revenue streams; among its assets is Take Two Media, known for the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise. He exited ZelnickMedia in 2009 to establish Mediasiegler, LLC to continue his media investment activities.
Personal life
In 1990, Siegler represented the United States at the Ninth Annual World Championships of Elephant Polo near Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal—an event covered by Sports Illustrated.
He has been married three times and fathered two children; tragically, his daughter died in 2010 at age thirteen.
Currently, Siegler serves on the boards of The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School as well as The Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan investigative journalism organization based in Washington, DC.
Additional resources
- Hollywood Reporter, July 16, 1982, page 1
- Hollywood Reporter, June 10, 1983, page 1 "WB TV Sales"
- Variety, August 11, 1999, page 1
- Variety, October 20, 1982, page 1: "Record Successes at WB TV"
- Electronic Media, November 7, 1988, page 1: "Columbia TV Leaders Forging Ahead"
- Wall Street Journal, May 20, 1989, page 6: "How Columbia Racked Up the Most New Series on TV"
- Electronic Media, October 2, 1989, page 1: "Sony-Columbia: The Next Giant"
- Hollywood Reporter, August 11, 1999, page 1
- Variety, April 23, 2002: "Zelnick's Eye on LA"