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Dawn Ostroff was named President, Entertainment, The CW on January 24, 2006, spearheading all creative efforts of the network and overseeing such areas as current programming, series development, scheduling, marketing and publicity.
A joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corporation, The CW debuted on Sept. 20, 2006 as America's new fifth broadcast network and the only network targeting young adults 18-34. Along with COO John Maatta, Ostroff oversaw the formation and launch of The CW, and she is now guiding the network's slate of highly anticipated new series, including "Gossip Girl," "Aliens in America," "Reaper," and "Life is Wild."
Prior to The CW, Ostroff served as President, UPN, a position she held since February 2005. Ostroff joined UPN as President, Entertainment on February 11, 2002.
During her tenure at UPN, Ostroff was instrumental in creating and defining UPN's brand identity targeting adults 18-to-34 years old with a focus on young women. She also brought several A-list talent to produce and star in new projects for UPN, including Chris Rock, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Tyra Banks and Joel Silver, to name a few.
Under Ostroff, UPN's hit series "America's Next Top Model" emerged as the highest-rated show in the network's history in many of UPN's key demographics. Ostroff and her team also developed several acclaimed series for UPN, including "Veronica Mars" and "Everybody Hates Chris," which earned UPN's first-ever nomination for a Golden Globe Award.
While at UPN, Ostroff had been listed among the 100 most powerful women in entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter for five consecutive years (Dec. 2002-Dec. 2006). For two consecutive years, Entertainment Weekly ranked Ostroff among Hollywood's top executives in their annual "Power List" issue. In addition, Electronic Media (now Television Week) named her one of the year's 12 to Watch (Jan. 2003) as well as one of the most powerful women in television (Oct. 2002).
Before UPN, Ostroff served as Executive Vice President, Entertainment at Lifetime Television since August 1999, overseeing all programming and production, scheduling and acquisitions, including Lifetime's original movies, primetime series, specials, documentaries and sports, as well as all programming for the Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women.
Under her stewardship, Lifetime rose from the sixth highest-rated network in cable to the number one cable network in prime time, building its reputation as a dynamic outlet for Hollywood's most talented women in front of and behind the camera. During Ostroff's tenure, Lifetime's line-up boasted the top three original dramas on basic cable, including "Strong Medicine," "Any Day Now" and "The Division," as well as the highly successful "Intimate Portrait" series, which profiled the world's most fascinating women.
While at Lifetime, Ostroff was named one of the top 50 women in entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter. In 1999, she was honored by American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT) with the Star Award for her extraordinary commitment to the issues and concerns of women through Lifetime's programming and public service efforts. She was also celebrated by the New York chapter of Women in Cable & Telecommunication and Cablevision Magazine as a "Wonder Women of Cable," recognizing her as one the most powerful women in cable for 2001. That same year, she was listed for the first time in Cablefax Magazine's Top 100 in the cable industry. Ostroff joined Lifetime in October 1996 as Senior Vice President, Programming and Production.
Prior to Lifetime Television, Ostroff worked at 20th Century Fox Television as Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs, where she was involved in the development of comedy and drama series for the 1996-97 season, including "King of the Hill" for FOX, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for The WB and the Emmy Award-winning "The Practice" for ABC.
Prior to 20th Century Fox Television, Ostroff was President of Michael Jacobs Productions, where she produced and supervised the production of comedies such as "Boy Meets World" and "Dinosaurs" for ABC and "The Torkelsons" for NBC. From 1984 to 1989, Ostroff served as Vice President, Development, at the Kushner-Locke Company, developing and producing a number of series for cable, as well as several mini-series and television movies for all of the broadcast networks.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Florida International University. She began her career in news as a reporter for WINZ, a CBS affiliate in Miami. She also worked in local news at WPLG and WTVJ in Miami.
Ostroff lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Mark, and at home, she takes on her favorite role of mom to her daughter, Lane, and sons, Michael, Justin and Jonathan. |
