Mark Pedowitz is the former chairman and CEO of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. He replaced

Dawn Ostroff Dawn Ostroff is an American businesswoman. She is the chief content officer and advertising business officer of Spotify, and the former president of entertainment of The CW and former president of Condé Nast Entertainment. Early life and educ ...

in 2011, who had been the Head of Entertainment since the network's inception in 2006. Pedowitz oversaw all aspects of The CW, including programming, sales, marketing, distribution, finance, research and publicity.

Personal life

Pedowitz is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

background. His alma maters are

Rockford College Rockford or Rockfords may refer to: Places United States * Rockford, Illinois, a city, the largest municipality of this name *Rockford, Alabama, a town * Rockford, Idaho, a census-designated place * Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois, a United ...

and the John Marshall Law School. He is married to Carolyn Martin. The couple have no children.

Career

He began his career in the entertainment industry as an attorney at MCA Inc. in 1979. He was Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Administration, MGM/UA Television Production Group, a position he had held since 1987. From 1985–87, Pedowitz was Vice President, Business Affairs and General Counsel, The Landsburg Company. From 1980–85, he was Vice President, Business Affairs, Reeves Entertainment. He served as Executive Vice President, ABC Entertainment Television Group, overseeing all business, legal and financial affairs for ABC Primetime and

Touchstone Television The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

, as well as business/legal affairs for

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows. Histor ...

. He joined ABC in 1991 as Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Contracts.The CW names a new president
/ref> He set up Pine Street Entertainment, a production company which has a first look deal with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. In 2011 he was appointed as the President of

. He eventually became the longest-tenured head for a broadcast network and was promoted to the position of chairman and chief executive officer in January 2020. During his tenure, Pedowitz focused on trying to broaden the audience for The CW, increased the diversity at the network, launched the ''

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

'' and made the shows of the network available through The CW app. He also increased the amount of original programming, with the network airing shows on Sunday and Saturday, as well as during the summer. Producer

Greg Berlanti Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer and director of film and television. He is known for his work on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' Everwood'', '' Political Animals'', ...

credited him with giving many shows that were not successful initially a chance in contrast to other networks. Pedowitz resigned on October 3, 2022 amidst the acquisition of the channel by

Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...

and was replaced by Dennis Miller as President. He will work on reviving Pine Street Entertainment following his departure.

References

American Broadcasting Company executives American television executives Paramount Global people Warner Bros. Discovery people Warner Bros. people The CW executives Presidents of The CW Living people John Marshall Law School (Chicago) alumni Rockford University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub