Tom Ascheim

Tom Ascheim is an American television producer and executive. He has been the president of Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics since July 2020. From 1998 to 2003, Ascheim was the general manager of Noggin,[1] which started as a tween-targeted channel co-owned by Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop. Ascheim later held several executive roles for both Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop.[2] From 2013 to 2020, he was the president of the cable channel ABC Family, which was renamed Freeform in 2016.

Tom Ascheim
Born
Thomas Ascheim
NationalityAmerican
EducationYale University (MBA)
Occupation
  • Television producer
  • Business executive
Years active1998-present

Early life and education

In high school, Ascheim worked as an air conditioning repair man, and giving out flyers for a borough presidential candidate in the Bronx.[3] In 1985, Ascheim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Yale University. In 1990, he received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Yale School of Management.[4] Originally he worked as an assistant to independent film producer Geoffrey Drummond, and a financial analyst at Silver Screen Management.[5][3]

Career

Ascheim joined Viacom in 1990 as the Vice President of Nickelodeon Business Development and Media Products,[5][6] and in 1997 was promoted to Vice President of Business Development, Publishing and Media.[6] In July 1998, Ascheim was named the first employee and general manager of Noggin, a cable network created by Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop that would launch in early 1999. The network was originally aimed at a tween audience. He oversaw the network's content library and produced one of its first original series, Oobi, from 2000 to 2005.[7] He helped create a variety of the interstitial series that Noggin played, often using talent from Sesame Workshop.[8] He also oversaw multiple rebrands of the channel, including introducing the host characters of Moose and Zee in 2003.[9] In 2006, Ascheim was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President & General Manager of Nickelodeon Digital Television, a newly created role which oversaw Noggin, The N, Nickelodeon Games and Sports and Nicktoons.[10]

Ascheim left Nickelodeon in 2007 to become the CEO of Newsweek, where he oversaw global operations of the publication and its merger with The Daily Beast.[5] In 2012, it was announced that Ascheim had been named by Sesame Workshop as their chief strategy officer and executive vice president of Sesame Learning.[11] In 2013 he left Sesame Workshop to become the president of ABC Family,[12] at a time when his daughters were big fans of the network.[3] Ascheim was the driving force behind the network's rebranding as Freeform.[4]

He acted as the president of Freeform until April 2020, when he stepped down to take the position of president of Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults And Classics, a division which has oversight over Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, Adult Swim and Turner Classic Movies; his first day at the position was July 1.[13][14]

Personal life

Ascheim has a son and two daughters.[3]

Filmography
Year Title Credit(s) Ref.
2000–2005 Oobi Producer [9]
2001–2002 The URL with Phred Show Executive producer [15]
2002–2004 Play with Me Sesame Executive producer [16]

References
  1. Baisley, Sarah (April 9, 2003). "Noggin Launches 'Preschool on TV' Lineup". Animation World Network.
  2. McGuire, Mark (November 24, 2004). "Noggin and The N have children covered". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  3. Martin, Ed (July 9, 2015). "Lunch at Michael's with Freeform President Tom Ascheim". Media Village. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  4. "Tom Ascheim '90 on Why ABC Family Became Freeform". Yale University. November 17, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  5. Goldberg, Lesley (November 12, 2013). "Tom Ascheim Named New ABC Family President". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  6. Baisley, Sarah (January 28, 2004). "Tom Ascheim New Nickelodeon Digital Television EVP/GM". Animation World Network. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  7. "For young viewers: keeping things simple". The New York Times. April 13, 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  8. Katz, Richard (February 5, 1999). "Kids cable web Noggin launches". Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  9. Hidek, Jeff (April 5, 2003). "Oobi: Noggin teaches kids with its bare hands". Star-News. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  10. Umstead, R. Thomas (February 8, 2006). "Ascheim to Head Nick TV". NextTV. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  11. Dickson, Jeremy (April 24, 2012). "Tom Ascheim joins Sesame Workshop". Kidscreen. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  12. Andreeva, Nellie (December 11, 2013). "Tom Ascheim Named ABC Family President". Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  13. Goldberg, Lesley (April 7, 2020). "Freeform's Departing Tom Ascheim to Run Cartoon Network". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  14. Lafayette, Jon (April 7, 2020). "Warner Bros. Grabs Disney's Ascheim to Head Kids Unit". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  15. Umstead, R. Thomas (June 10, 2001). "Noggin adds interactive series". Multichannel News. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  16. "Children's network does double duty". Lawrence Journal-World. March 21, 2002. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
Preceded by
Michael Ouweleen		 Cartoon Network president
2020–present		 Succeeded by
TBA
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