Margaret Ann Loesch (/lɛʃ/[1]) is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network.[2] She stepped down from her position in 2014.[3]

Margaret Loesch
Born
Margaret Ann Loesch
Alma materUniversity of Southern Mississippi
Louisiana State University in New Orleans
OccupationEntertainment executive

Early life

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Margaret Ann Loesch was born to Margaret M. Loesch and Brig. Gen. L. Fred Loesch (USAF). She attended undergraduate school at the University of Southern Mississippi, studying political science, and graduate school at Louisiana State University in New Orleans.[4]

Career

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In 1971, Loesch started her entertainment career with television programming and production positions at ABC, then in 1979 with NBC. In 1979 she moved to Hanna-Barbera Productions as vice president for children's programming, moving up to executive vice president. In 1984, she joined Marvel Productions as president and chief executive officer.[5] Loesch then ran Fox Kids from 1990[4][2] until 1997.[5] During this time she bought X-Men: The Animated Series[6] and the Power Rangers franchise[7] (both would prove to be wildly popular) for the network.[6] For most of 1998, Loesch was President of the Jim Henson Television Group, where she was involved in the Odyssey Channel agreement with Hallmark Entertainment and National Interfaith Cable Coalition. She moved to Odyssey in November 1998 as president and chief executive officer. With Hallmark taking over a majority ownership in Odyssey, Loesch led a re-branding of Odyssey to the Hallmark Channel in 1999.[5] In 2003, Loesch and Bruce Stein formed The Hatchery, a family entertainment and consumer product company.[8] She was hired as Hub Network chief executive officer position in July 2009 until the end of 2014.[2] In March 2015, Loesch was named to Genius Brands' international board of directors to replace Jeff Weiss, the president and chief operations officer of American Greetings.[9]

Filmography

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Years Title Notes
1981 Superfriends Executive In Charge of Production
Trollkins Executive In Charge of Production
1981-1983 The Smurfs] Executive In Charge of Production/Supervising Executive
1982-1983 Pac-Man Executive In Charge of Production
1983-1984 Pac-Man Supervising Executive
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show Supervising Executive
The Biskitts Supervising Executive
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show Supervising Executive Producer
1984–1985 Challenge of the GoBots Executive In Charge of Production
1985–1986 Paw Paws Executive In Charge of Production
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians Executive In Charge of Production
1985 The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo Executive In Charge of Production
1990–1995 Tiny Toon Adventures Executive In Charge of Production
1991–1995 Taz-Mania Executive Producer
1992–1995 Batman: The Animated Series Executive Producer
1992 The Plucky Duck Show Executive In Charge of Production
1993–1998 Animaniacs Executive In Charge of Production
1995–1999 The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Executive Producer
1995–1997 Freakazoid! Executive In Charge of Production
1995–1998 Pinky and the Brain Executive In Charge of Production
1996–2000 Superman: The Animated Series Executive Producer
1996–1997 Road Rovers Executive In Charge of Production
Waynehead Executive In Charge of Production
1997–1999 The New Batman Adventures Executive Producer
1998–2000 Histeria! Executive In Charge of Production
1998–1999 Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain Executive In Charge of Production
1999–2001 Batman Beyond Executive Producer
1999–2000 Detention Executive Producer
2000–2002 Static Shock Executive Producer
2001–2002 The Zeta Project Executive Producer
Justice League Executive Producer

References

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  1. ^ Interview with X-Men: TAS Showrunner/Writers Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald
  2. ^ a b c "Kids vet Margaret Loesch to run Hasbro-Discovery cable network". Los Angeles Times. July 16, 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  3. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (June 12, 2014). "Margaret Loesch to Exit as Hub Network Chief". Variety. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  4. ^ a b "Margaret Loesch Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo!. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  5. ^ a b c "Margaret Loesch To Leave Position As President And CEO, Crown Media United States; Lana Corbi To Assume Post". Business Wire. the Free Library.com. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b Mangels, Andy (August 1993). "Scorching the Screen". Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty. pp. 70–73.
  7. ^ Heffley, Lynne (November 1993). "Low-Tech Equals High Ratings". Los Angeles Times: Fox's Offbeat 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' Flexes Its Kidvid Muscle. pp. 1–2.
  8. ^ Hofmeister, Sallie (November 12, 2003). "Former TV, Toy Execs Form New Company". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  9. ^ Bond, Paul (March 26, 2015). "Margaret Loesch Joins Genius Brands Board of Directors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
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