Jim Samples

Jim Samples (born 1963) is an American businessman. He was the general manager and Executive Vice President of Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2007, replacing Betty Cohen. Under his tenure, the Adult Swim block was created and launched and numerous original series premiered. He resigned following the 2007 Boston bomb scare, with Stuart Snyder being his successor.

More recently, Samples has served as the President of International for Scripps Networks Interactive. In this role, Samples oversees the strategic direction and daily operations of the company's international division.

Business career

Turner Broadcasting System

Prior to joining Scripps Networks, Samples spent nearly 14 years with Turner Broadcasting System in various leadership capacities spanning affiliate sales, marketing, programming and digital media. He started his career at Turner in international business development in 1993 and then became the President of Turner International Argentina, based in Buenos Aires, the following year. In 1999, Samples returned to the U.S. as Senior Vice President and General Manager of TNT and Cartoon Network Latin America.

Cartoon Network

In 2000, Samples became Senior Vice President and General Manager of TNT and Cartoon Network Latin America, serving as such until 2001. In 2001, Samples was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cartoon Network Worldwide, where he is credited for the rollout and launch of Adult Swim, the leading late-night network for young men in the U.S. He also joined forces with 20th Century Fox to put Family Guy back into production as the anchor for the Adult Swim line-up.

Samples greenlit a total of 15 original series while running Cartoon Network: Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Evil Con Carne, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Megas XLR, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner's a Monkey,^[1] Ben 10, Squirrel Boy,^[2] Class of 3000,^[2] Chowder, and Out of Jimmy's Head.

Contrary to popular belief, it was Samples, not Stuart Snyder who introduced live-action programming to CN. In November 2005, Cartoon Network began airing live-action films for the first time in their history, and continued to air them throughout 2006 and 2007. Some of these films, combined 2D animation and live actors, while others were fully live-action but "cartoony" in tone.

On December 8, 2006, Cartoon Network produced their first live-action television movie called Re-Animated, a collaboration between both live-action and animation. When asked about the project, Cartoon Network executive Michael Ouweleen (co-creator of Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law) stated: "[E]ven though we are featuring live-action characters, it still had to be done the Cartoon Network way."^[3] In 2007, once Stuart Snyder had taken over, the film was spun-off into its own half-hour series entitled Out of Jimmy's Head, which continues the events of the film.

Shortly before Samples resigned, shows that were either fully live-action or a combination between live-action and animation were in the pipeline. When asked about the shows, Samples responded "Most of the stuff coming through the pipeline is animation. But you shouldn't be surprised to see more live-action programming, but we're predominately an animated network and that's not changing anytime soon."^[4] None of these shows saw the light of day, thanks to the 2007-2008 Writer's Guild strike.

HGTV

Samples served as President of HGTV from 2007-2011. During his tenure, HGTV ranked every year as the #1 network among upscale female viewers in the U.S. At HGTV, Samples broadened the network’s programming slate by introducing a series of hits shows including Love It or List It, Property Brothers and Kitchen Cousins while greatly expanding the network’s hit franchise House Hunters. He also partnered with the consumer products team to create new off-air brand extensions including HGTV Magazine, the #1 home magazine in the U.S., and an extensive HGTV-branded product line.

Scripps Networks International

Since 2011, Jim Samples has served as President of International for Scripps Networks Interactive. In this role, Samples oversees the strategic direction and daily operations of the company’s international division which distributes five international brands – Asian Food Channel, Fine Living, Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel – across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. In addition, Samples sits on the Board for and manages the company’s joint-venture relationships with both UKTV in the UK and Shaw Media in Canada. He also oversees the division’s international program licensing business.

References