Brooke Bailey Johnson
As a longtime leader in the US television and digital media business, Brooke Bailey Johnson has launched multiple iconic brands and new businesses. Most recently she served as President of the Food Category for Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) where she oversaw multiple businesses, which generated over $1 billion in revenue coupled with industry leading profit margins. She currently advises RADIO FREE EUROPE on its CURRENTTIME cable television network, which provides Russian language news and information to the Russian periphery. Brooke led the team that launched the network.
Johnson’s areas of business specialties include product development (television, digital, consumer products, social, and print), advertising sales, product and sales marketing, integrated marketing, consumer research, collective bargaining negotiations, and corporate acquisition, along with the functional areas of human resources, compensation, finance and IT.
The businesses at SNI that Johnson had P&L responsibility for include Food Network, Food Network Magazine, Food Network Wines, Foodnetwork.com, Cooking Channel, and Cookingchanneltv.com. Food Network is a top 15 US cable network, and its social and digital extensions also lead the industry. She has also extended the brand into consumer products, live events, restaurants, and books. The brand is one of the most recognized and revered brands in the US and is now seen in over 150 countries around the world.
Prior to Food Network, Johnson was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of the A&E Network with revenue of over $500 million. AD AGE MAGAZINE named her Cable Marketer of the Year for the growth of A&E. She also launched THE BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL, a digital cable network based on the BIOGRAPHY program brand. Her biggest launch was THE HISTORY CHANNEL, one of the most successful launches in cable history. It was she who proposed the channel idea and, as head of programming for A&E, crafted the original programming and marketing strategy. At both channels she worked closely with British broadcasters to co-produce programming that would work in both markets.
Before moving into cable television, Johnson worked for ABC Television as Programming Director for its flagship television station, WABC-TV, New York. While there, she launched first locally and then into national syndication”Live With Regis and Kathie Lee”. More recently she launched “Everyday With Rachael Ray” into national syndication.
Brooke Johnson has also served on the board of “TasteMade”, a food based digital content company. She is actively involved in philanthropy, serving on the leadership council for Share Our Strength (a national anti-hunger organization) and an advisor to the Food Bank for New York City.
Johnson’s numerous industry affiliations have included the Board of Trustees of the Women in Cable & Telecommunications Foundation; the Board of the National Association of Television Program Executives; the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing Summit Planning Committee; and a founding trustee of Cable Positive the cable industry AIDS fundraising and awareness organization.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Johnson holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree from the University’s Medill School of Journalism. She also completed the Advanced Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Business. She resides in New York City and, among her many involvements, she is an accomplished pianist who plays for pleasure. A woman of many sides, Johnson was also the librettist for Ghost Brothers. Johnson is also the proud mother of grown daughter Bailey and son Lee.