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 HRTS has elected 4 new members to join its Board of Directors, and added 2 new members earlier this year by executive appointment for the upcoming term.
New to the board are:
Jeffrey Bader, Executive Vice President, Planning, Scheduling and Distribution, ABC Entertainment Group
Gary Marenzi, President, Worldwide Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc.
Christina Norman, Chief Executive Officer, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.
Jeff Wachtel, President of Original Programming, USA Network and Co- Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions
The slate of new directors was named by the HRTS nominating committee and was approved by a vote of the entire HRTS membership in August.
Board additions by executive appointment are:
Greg Lipstone, Head of International Television and Media, International Creative Management, Inc.
Tim Spengler, President, Initiative USA.
 Jeffrey D. Bader was named executive vice president, Planning, Scheduling and Distribution, ABC Entertainment Group, in June 2009. In this position he continues as ABC Entertainment’s senior executive in charge of primetime and late-night program planning and scheduling. Beyond these network-specific duties, Mr. Bader is responsible for facilitating and coordinating global programming, distribution and windowing strategies for all ABC Entertainment Group programs across all platforms, both domestic and international. Previously, Mr. Bader was executive vice president, ABC Entertainment, since September 2000.
Mr. Bader joined ABC in 1988 as supervisor, Audience Analysis. He became manager, Audience and Program Research, in 1989; manager, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1991; director in 1992; executive director in 1994; vice president, Current Series Programming, in 1995; vice president, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1996; and senior vice president, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1998.
Prior to joining ABC, Mr. Bader held senior research positions at the MTM Distribution Group and at NBC.
Mr. Bader received a Master of Arts degree with distinction from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California. He graduated with honors from Williams College in Massachusetts.
In addition to his duties at ABC, Mr. Bader is on the board of directors for the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a leading charitable organization that supports charitable initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issue and RX Laughter, a nonprofit organization that focuses on managing patient pain and improving mental health through comic entertainment, including films and TV clips.
Raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, he now resides in Los Angeles, California.
 Gary Marenzi is President of the revitalized Worldwide Television operation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). He re-joined MGM in May, 2007, and he shares overall responsibility for the division with Co-President Jim Packer. Mr. Marenzi’s duties include overseeing both production and distribution for television and digital media at MGM.
Prior to his appointment at MGM, Mr. Marenzi was President of Marenzi & Associates, which he founded in 2004 to provide strategic management advice and implementation for the media and entertainment industry. Some of Marenzi’s clients included Lucasfilm Ltd, IMAX Corporation, Sinclair Broadcast Group, ProSieben/Sat1 Germany, TV 4 Sweden, TV 2 Norway, TV 2 Denmark, TeleFilm Argentina and Amedia Russia .
Prior to founding his own firm, Mr. Marenzi was President of International Television for Paramount Pictures for seven years. During his tenure with Paramount, Mr. Marenzi generated several billion dollars in license fee revenue for Paramount feature films, TV programming and formats with TV broadcasters and cable channels outside the U.S. He also oversaw Paramount’s TV co-production/co-financing operations that yielded USA Network’s hits, The Dead Zone and The 4400.
Between 1992 and 1997, Mr. Marenzi recorded his first tour of duty at MGM as President of the MGM Telecommunications Group, where he was responsible for all of MGM’s international television and worldwide pay television business activities. Before MGM, Mr. Marenzi was President of the UIP Pay TV Group based in London for three years. In the early portion of his career, Mr. Marenzi laid a foundation for his experience in television with roles at Skouras Pictures, Inc., The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Warner Home Video, Columbia Pictures, and HBO.
Mr. Marenzi received both his BA and MBA from Stanford University.
 Christina Norman. With nearly two decades of excellence in broadcasting and recognized as one of the industry’s most creative businesswomen, Christina Norman is Chief Executive Officer of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. As CEO, she manages all business and creative areas of the new cable channel and multi-platform media venture designed to entertain, inspire, and empower people to live their best lives. Based in Los Angeles, Ms. Norman reports to the OWN Board of Directors.
Ms. Norman came to OWN from MTV: Music Television, where she most recently served as President, providing the leadership, strategy and management for MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Tr3s, and MTV.com that kept the youth-oriented brand at the forefront of television entertainment. Prior to serving as President of MTV, she was President of the MTV sister network, VH1, where she garnered widespread industry praise for helming a diverse programming slate and leading the network to its highest viewership levels in 19 years on the air.
Beginning in 2002, Ms. Norman served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of VH1, turning the flagging network’s fortunes and ratings around within the first year with a new identity campaign and aggressive slate of new and successful productions. In 1999, she was named Senior Vice President, Marketing and On-Air Promotion at MTV, adding marketing to the areas she previously oversaw as SVP, On-Air Promotions, a post she held since 1997. In that capacity, she spearheaded promotion for MTV’s hit series and tent pole events such as the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards. Ms. Norman joined the MTV family in 1991 as Production Manager for the network’s celebrated on air promotions department. She went on to spearhead promotion for other hit series including The Osbournes and 10 Spot, rising through the network’s on-air promotions department ranks.
Ms. Norman has been regularly included in The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100 Women in Entertainment.” In 2006, she was named one of Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women,” and has been profiled in Advertising Age’s “Media Mavens” issue. She was named National Public Service winner by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2002 for MTV’s “Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself” campaign.
Ms. Norman serves on the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center Advisory Board and the BRIC Arts Media Brooklyn Board.
 Jeff Wachtel is President of Original Programming at USA Network and Co- Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions. Since Jeff joined USA in 2001, the network has launched a number of hit series, including Monk, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Psych, The Starter Wife, The 4400, and The Dead Zone. USA has been the #1 rated cable network for the past three years.
A graduate of Yale University, Jeff began his career as a theatre producer in New York, producing David Mamet's first plays, Sexual Perversity In Chicago & Duck Variations. Before joining USA, Jeff was a successful studio executive, most notably as head of Columbia Pictures Television primetime division, where he oversaw the development and production of the hit shows Party of Five and Dawson’s Creek.
 Greg Lipstone is the head of International Television and Media for International Creative Management, Inc., a talent and literary agency representing clients in the fields of publishing, motion pictures, television, music and theater. ICM, a privately held corporation, is one of the predominant agencies in the United States and Europe, with its principal offices in Los Angeles, New York and London.
His clients include Granada America, LMNO Productions, BBC Worldwide Productions, Bob Bain Productions, 12 Yard Productions, All 3 Media, Promofilm, Lighthearted Entertainment, Sparks Network, Lion Television, Big Vision Entertainment, Zoo Productions, Matt Kunitz and John Redmann, among others.
Mr. Lipstone has packaged numerous successful televisions series including “The Office” (NBC), “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC), “Hell’s Kitchen” (FOX), “Nanny 911” (FOX), “Kitchen Nightmares” (FOX), “Kids Say the Darndest Things” (CBS), “Celebrity Fit Farm” (VH1), “Life is Wild” (CW), “Viva Laughlin” (CBS), “Without Prejudice” (GSN) and “The Phenomenon” (NBC).
Prior to joining ICM, Mr. Lipstone worked at the William Morris Agency for 21 years, starting as a trainee and rising through the ranks to head the agency’s network television department in 2004. He started his entertainment industry career while still a teenager, serving as a receptionist at the Landsburg Company during school vacations and summer holidays. He quickly worked his way up to segment producer on several network series and specials.
Mr. Lipstone sits on the board of governors for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and is on the board of directors for the Hollywood Radio & Television Society.
Born and raised in L.A., Mr. Lipstone attended the Oakwood School. In 1983, he received a B.A. in business economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
 Tim Spengler is President of Initiative USA. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s U.S. operations, with an emphasis on developing media, marketing and digital capabilities. He is also part of the Initiative Worldwide leadership team, reporting to Worldwide CEO Richard Beaven. Moreover, MAGNA, the media intelligence and negotiating arm of Interpublic Group, reports to Tim and the President of sister IPG agency Universal McCann.
He previously served as Chief Activation Officer for Initiative North America, overseeing all channel activation efforts and the unification of all buying departments including national broadcast, local broadcast, print and online. Prior to that role, Tim was Executive Vice President, Director of National Broadcast, managing the operations of Initiative's network department.
During his two-year tenure as Chief Activation Officer, Initiative won several significant new accounts, including Hyundai/Kia, Cadbury, CBS, Showtime, Lionsgate and Quiznos; as well as expanded its responsibilities with clients such as Bayer, Big Lots and Citi Home Equity.
Under his visionary leadership, Tim led the agency’s restructuring into a single consolidated activation unit, which has been a key catalyst in transforming Initiative into a media, marketing and digital force. Tim was also crucial to the creation and implementation of Initiative’s “Pod Puncher,” short 5-second spots that air at end of commercial breaks, circumventing DVR users’ ability to avoid ads.
Tim has directed numerous breakthrough media executions for clients, most notably AOL’s “Running Man” activation, bringing the company’s ubiquitous brand icon to life in many high profile entertainment and sports properties; and The Home Depot’s exclusive marketing agreement with “Trading Spaces” on TLC, widely recognized as the model for future cross platform partnerships between brands and content.
TV Week’s 2008 Media Executive of the Year, Tim is one of the industry's leading spokespeople, acting as Initiative's voice on a wide range of media issues and is frequently called upon by industry trade, business, Wall Street and consumer press to share the company's insights and viewpoints. He has been named both a Media Maven and Media All-Star by Advertising Age and Mediaweek, respectively.
Tim joined Initiative in 1993. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in political science with a minor in business. He is married and resides with his wife and their three young children in Connecticut.
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