President
Michele Ganeless is president of COMEDY CENTRAL. She is based in New York and reports to Doug Herzog, president, MTV Networks Entertainment Group.
As president, Ganeless' mandate is to bolster the strength of the COMEDY CENTRAL brand and its programming, not only in the traditional television landscape but also across the increasingly diverse digital universe. During her third and current tour at the network, Ganeless has overseen the successful launch of COMEDY CENTRAL's broadband network and is responsible for the leadership, strategy and management of the network as well as the day-to-day operations of the channel.
Ganeless had been executive vice president and general manager of COMEDY CENTRAL since 2004, rejoining the network from her previous position of executive vice president and general manager of USA Network where she worked closely with Herzog, then its president and CEO. While at USA Network (2001-2004), Ganeless had oversight of acquisitions, program scheduling, marketing, press, on-air promotion and research. She played a key role in that network's turnaround story, overseeing the launches of successful series including "Monk" and "The Dead Zone," helping the network grow its ratings after the loss of wrestling.
Prior to USA, Ganeless was senior vice president, programming at COMEDY CENTRAL. She joined COMEDY CENTRAL in 1996 as vice president, programming, and was promoted to senior vice president in January 2000. In that role, Ganeless was a key architect of the programming strategy that drove five straight years of ratings growth, and was a key member of the team that launched "The Daily Show" and "South Park."
From 1992 to 1995, Ganeless was vice president, research and planning, at MTV. She joined MTV from COMEDY CENTRAL where she was research manager from 1990 to 1992. She was also an account manager at Young & Rubicam in 1989-1990.
Ganeless holds a BS degree from Northwestern University and lives in New York City. She sits on the board of the Posse Foundation, an organization dedicated to identifying and training youth leaders from urban public high schools.