MARGARET
LOESCH
(March
28, 1946- )
Notable
Roles: NBC executive, Executive Vice President of
Hanna-Barbera, President and CEO of Marvel Productions, Founding President and
CEO of Fox Kids Networks, President of the Jim Henson Television Group,
President and CEO of Hallmark Channel, Founding President and CEO of The Hub
Network, Executive Chairman of Kartoon Channel
Initially
studying political science at the University of
Southern Mississippi and international relations and urban development at Louisiana State University, Loesch ended up as
a clerk-typist for ABC in 1971. After hours,
she’d stay with the film editors where she was shown their processes. She would
eventually get a full education on production when promoted to the promo
department developing sales films and on-air promos. In 1979, a former ABC
colleague invited her over to NBC to work as
a manager in the children’s programs department. While her efforts went
unappreciated at the network, Hanna-Barbera liked her
style and invited her to work for them any time she wanted. Loesch took them up
on the offer and they created the position of head of children’s programs,
later executive vice president. With them, Loesch would end up providing NBC
with one of their biggest Saturday morning hits: The Smurfs. In 1984,
Loesch moved further up the ladder when she was offered the position of
president and CEO of Marvel
Productions. That move allowed her to achieve the often-refuted goal of
adapting Kermit the
Frog for animation when CBS’ Judy
Price wanted to commission the show Muppet
Babies. Although Marvel was able to churn out several programs based on
Hasbro properties—My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, A Real American
Hero, Transformers
and Jem—it
was an uphill battle to get any of Marvel
Comics’ own properties to the small screen; especially the X-Men. In 1990, Loesch
joined the Fox subsidiary Fox Children’s Network as its
division president. There, she oversaw the launch and development of the
successful programming block Fox Kids. She was able to translate that success
into finally getting X-Men:
The Animated Series onto the airwaves, as well as Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers (which Marvel Productions tried to option years
prior in its original Super Sentai
form)—both tremendous hits for the network. After Saban Entertainment
took ownership of the division in 1997, Loesch went to work for the Jim Henson
Television Group where she oversaw the conversion of the Odyssey
Channel into the Hallmark
Channel. In 2003, Loesch and Bruce Stein formed The Hatchery, LLC,
a media production company owned by American
Greetings and Mandalay Entertainment
focused on family-oriented entertainment. They would produce Dan Vs. and R.L. Stein’s The Haunting
Hour for The
Hub; a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications. Loesch was
appointed chief executive officer of the network, where she remained until
stepping down in 2014. In 2015, Loesch was named to Genius Brands’ international board of
directors, replacing president and COO of American Greetings Jeff Weiss. The
following year, she became the executive chairman of the Kids Genius Channel,
which became Kartoon
Channel in 2020. Loesch had also served on the board of trustees for Sesame Workshop, makers of Sesame
Street, and is the vice chair of the Emmy Foundation.
Saturday
Credits:
The All-New Popeye Hour
Drak Pack
The Flintstone Comedy Show
The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show
The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang
The Kwicky Koala Show
Space Stars
Laverne & Shirley in the Army
Trollkins
The Smurfs
Superfriends (1981)
The Dukes
Benji, Jax & the Alien Prince
The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show
The Biskitts
Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries
Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies
Dungeons & Dragons
Jim Henson’s Little Muppet Monsters
Jem
Little Clowns of Happytown
The Little Wizards
Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series
RoboCop (1988)
ABC Weekend Specials (episodes)
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
X-Men: The Animated Series
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