Former CBS President Sagansky Helps Launch New Network

When CBS was the king of prime time television, Jeffrey F. Sagansky '74 was the king of CBS.

As president of CBS Entertainment from 1990 to 1994, Sagansky steered the network from No. 3 to No. 1 in prime-time ratings, using programs like "Murphy Brown," "Northern Exposure" and "Chicago Hope" to target younger audiences.

In 1994, he turned his programming wizardry elsewhere, joining Sony Corp. as an executive vice president. By 1998, when he unexpectedly quit his position, he had become co-president of the group's film and television programming arm.

Now, he is president and CEO of Pax TV, a broadcast network that prides itself on airing programs that are "free of senseless violence, free of explicit sex and free of foul language."

Launched in 1998, Pax TV has pledged to bring its viewers the kind of family programs that Sagansky helped developed during his tenure at CBS and in an earlier stint at NBC, including "Touched by an Angel," "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties."

Sagansky has made Cinderella stories the story of his career, consistently turning fledgling companies or struggling corporations into successes. And while he certainly has changed jobs more than most--working for three television networks and two movie studios in the last 20 years alone--he says his work in Hollywood has always had a single-minded focus.

"I made it a point of trying to be involved in companies or businesses that were either start-up or that had really fallen on tough times," he says. "When a company is down on luck it's much more open to change. There's so much to do, and I can help find the focus of the organization."

Harvard and Hollywood

Sagansky says he now realizes that a liberal arts college in New England was not necessarily the right place to develop a passion for television and films.

"Students don't give much thought to diversity," the former Lowell House resident says. "I just chugged along taking courses in economics. I wish I had spent more time in English and American literature."

The interest in the "business of media" was always there, Sagansky says, but he instead chose to become involved in Republican Party politics in college, eventually serving as chair of the student advisory committee of the Institute of Politics. This passion for politics, the Boston-area native says, was atypical for his politically apathetic class.

"Our class was the in-between class. It was a class in transition," he says, referring to the radical activists who stormed University Hall in 1969 before his class came to Harvard and the divestment supporters who came along well after Sagansky left the College.

Without the necessary connections or the proper experience immediately after graduation, Sagansky gave up knocking on doors in California and headed back to Cambridge to attend Harvard Business School.

Sagansky was eventually hired as a financial analyst for CBS--"I don't think I could have started in a less creative department," he now says-before moving on to NBC in 1977 to work as the director of dramatic development and manager of the film programs.

In 1982, he became the senior vice president in charge of series programming for the station, developing shows like "Cheers," "Miami Vice" and "St. Elsewhere."

Even without Hollywood experience, Sagansky's career had been launched.

He's A Wanderer

After his work at NBC, Sagansky ventured into the movie business. From 1985 to 1989, he was president of production for TriStar Pictures, a start-up at the time rather than the media behemoth it is today. During his time there, the movie house produced films like "Glory," "Look Who's Talking," and "Steel Magnolias."

But for all his success, Sagansky made the biggest headlines when he abruptly left CBS in 1994 while the company was still winning the ratings war.

"I had been at CBS for five years and I thought the networks were becoming dinosaurs. Sony was at the cornerstone of media," he says.

And so Sangansky became co-president of Sony Pictures, helping the company gross more money in one year--$1.3 billion--than any other movie house in history. But just as he had done while at CBS, Sagansky left Sony while at the pinnacle of his success, choosing instead to take on the challenges that come with a start-up television network, Pax TV.

"I'm always looking for something that keeps me challenged and learning," he says. "One of my greatest motivators is the fear of toppling over and failing. I have a restless spirit."

Working on Pax TV, Sagansky says, will allow him to tackle what he describes as the negative influence of television.

"I really believe in the negative impact that TV can have," says Sagansky, who brought to air family programs such as "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties" and "Dr. Quinn, the Medicine Woman."

"I believe in positive programming that can help people solve their problems. [Family shows] are the shows that have lasting impact," he adds. "'Miami Vice.' 'Cheers.' 'The A-Team.' 'Night Rider.' Those programs are hot for a year and then gone. I think the shows that last are the ones that we still watch today on 'Nick at Nite.'"

This past year, says, the network has also incorporated more original programming, developing shows such as "Chicken Soup for the Soul," a feel-good anthology series based on the book series by the same name, and "Twice in a Lifetime," a fantasy drama that allows its characters to go back in time and change one decision that set their lives on its course.

It is programs like these, along with the tried-and-true reruns of shows like "Eight is Enough" and "Hogan's Family," that Sagansky hopes will boost the ratings of the 71 Pax TV stations across the country. But regardless of what comes of his latest entertainment venture, Sagansky--who met his wife while she was working for his competition, ABC--says his career has never been driven by a desire for tangible success.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to be famous. I've seen it corrupt people," Sagansky says. "It's been very satisfying to work with talented people, and I'm known to my family and friends. That's all that counts."