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Episode
507
THIS IS YOUR LIFE!:
Looking at the Big Picture
Featured Guest:
Sir Howard Stringer
Chairman & CEO, Sony Corporation
Howard Stringer has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation
since June 2005. He is also a Representative Corporate Executive Officer of
Sony Corporation.
Additionally, Mr. Stringer retains his responsibilities as Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Sony Corporation of America, as well as corporate head
of Sony Corporation's Entertainment Business Group. Mr. Stringer is a
member of the Board of Directors of Sony Corporation, and is also a Board member
of Sony BMG Music Entertainment (which is 50% owned by Bertelsmann A.G. and
50% owned by Sony Corporation of America), one of the largest recorded music
companies in the world, and he oversees Sony's other music-related holdings
in the U.S. He joined the Company in May 1997.
Prior to joining Sony, Mr. Stringer had a distinguished 30-year career as a
journalist, producer and executive at CBS Inc. As President of CBS from 1988
to 1995, he was responsible for all the broadcast activities of the company
including entertainment, news, sports, radio and television stations. Under
his leadership, the CBS Television Network became the first network to rise
from last to first place in one season. In 1993, in what became one of the
most chronicled coups in television history, Mr. Stringer convinced David Letterman
to bring his critically acclaimed late night show to CBS.
From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Stringer served as President of CBS News, where he developed
several new programs including the award-winning 48 Hours, which continues
as a primetime hit to this day. Prior to that, during his tenure as executive
producer of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather from 1981 to 1984,
that program became the dominant network evening newscast of its day. From
1976 to 1981,
while Mr. Stringer was executive producer of the CBS Reports documentary
unit, it won virtually every major honor, including 31 Emmys, four Peabody
Awards,
three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Christopher Awards,
three Overseas Press Club Awards, an ABA Silver Gavel and a Robert F. Kennedy
Grand Prize. Among his award-winning programs are The Rockefellers, The
Palestinians, A Tale of Two Irelands, The Defense of the United States, The
Boat People,
The Boston Goes to China, The Firest Next Door, and The CIA's Secret
Army. Mr. Stringer earned nine individual Emmys as a writer, director and producer
from
1974 to 1976.
After leaving CBS Inc., Mr. Stringer was Chairman and CEO of TELE-TV, the media
and technology company formed by Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Pacific Telesis,
three of the largest telephone companies in the United States, from February
1995 to April 1997.
Mr. Stringer is the recipient of numerous media and philanthropic awards. Phoenix
House, the nation’s leading non-profit substance abuse services organization,
presented him with its Public Service Award in April 2002. He has also been
honored by Literacy Partners, Teach for America, and the New York Hall of Science.
The Center for Communication presented Mr. Stringer with its highest award
in November 2000. In May 1999, he was honored with the UJA-Federation of New
York's Steven J. Ross Humanitarian Award and in November 1999, he was inducted
into the Royal Television Society's Welsh Hall of Fame. In 1996 he was awarded
the First Amendment Leadership Award by the Radio & Television News Directors
Foundation in Washington, D.C., and was inducted into the Broadcasting and
Cable Hall of Fame. In 1994, Mr. Stringer received the International Radio
and Television Society's Foundation Award, and was honored for his "uncommon
vision" in the media industry by the American Museum of the Moving Image.
Mr. Stringer serves as Chairman of the American Film Institute Board of Trustees
and is on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Television and Radio. He is
a board member of InterContinental Hotels Group, The New York/Presbyterian
Hospital, The American Theatre Wing, the American Friends of the British Museum,
and the Corporate Leadership Committee of the Lincoln Center for the Performing
Arts. He has honorary Fellowships from Merton College, Oxford, and the Welsh
College of Music and Drama. In 2003, Mr. Stringer received an Honorary Doctorate
from the London Institute.
A native of Cardiff, Wales, Sir Howard received the title of Knight Bachelor
in the New Year Honours list of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on December
31, 1999. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. in modern history from Oxford University.
He is a recipient of the U.S. Army Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement
for service in Vietnam (1965-67). He became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and is married
to Dr. Jennifer A.K. Patterson, a dermatologist. They have two children, David
Ridley and Harriet Kinmond.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of
audio, video, communications and information technology products for the consumer
and professional markets. Its music, motion pictures, computer entertainment
operations, and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment
companies in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately
$64 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, and it employs 158,500
people worldwide. — April 2006.
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