Television & Media Management Graduate Program

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What is Television & Media Management?

Today's television and media businesses reside within one of the most competitive, complex and fastest growing industries in the world. This has created new opportunities for those who can creatively manage growing business challenges and who can develop innovative strategies to address rapidly evolving technological and consumer trends. Drexel University’s Paul F. Harron graduate program in Television & Media Management offers two graduate study options to prepare students for demanding and fulfilling careers in television and media: the Master of Science in Television & Media Management and dual MS/MBA.

We believe people learn by doing. Students in the Television & Media Management program receive hands-on management experience through internships at networks, media marketing and advertising firms, Internet start-ups, independent production companies and a range of video program distributors (broadcast television stations, cable and telco companies, and evolving direct-to-consumer media hybrids) that operate in the region and beyond. The MS program combines practical and academic experience in courses, such as:

• Media Deal-Making
• Multi-Platform Strategy
• Audience Measurement and Analytics
• Media Law
• Media Sales
• Money and the Media
• TV Technology and Innovation
• Media Ethics
• Media Systems and Dynamics
• Media Research Laboratory
• TV Production Laboratory

These courses challenge students to discover the critical interplay between creative process and the business skills required to manage successful media companies.

Television & Media Management at Drexel Westphal

Since its founding in 2004, the MS in Television & Media Management program has continually expanded to encompass a broadening industry scope and has grown in capacity and quality while extending its reach to welcome both global and domestic students. The graduate program’s highlights include:

• Students are taught by experienced professionals who currently work in or have previously held significant roles in the television and media industry.
• The program attracts a diverse group of students from across the country and around the world, adding a wealth of experience and diversity to the classroom and your professional network.
• Our alumni work for major domestic and international media companies, and their success is a testament to the quality of Drexel’s graduate program in Television & Media Management.
• Class sizes are small, allowing for regular interaction among students and faculty at the course level and within the capstone project process.
• The program is offered jointly with the LeBow College of Business for students interested in taking business classes and earning the dual MS/MBA.

Two Graduate Studies Options for Television & Media Management

The stand-alone MS degree offers a solid grounding in business management and specialized courses in the management of the broader television and media industry. The dual MS/MBA option, offered jointly with the LeBow College of Business, allows students to integrate more business course content with the management practices of television and media, and provides graduates the advantages of also earning the renowned Drexel MBA.

“I decided to sign up for a Master’s degree when I was three years out of undergrad. I had been working for an ad agency since graduating and I just wanted more to my life; I wanted an advanced degree; I wanted to go to a reputable institution. When I discovered that Drexel not only had an MBA program but a TV Management program to go with it, I just knew that it was the right fit for me. Incoming students can expect to learn from the basic TV industry structural organization to the finer points of programming and scheduling. I became a little bit more analytical, definitely less naïve about the TV industry.”
- Brain Laverty, Consumer Insights, WarnerMedia, New York

Learning objectives for both the MS and MS/MBA degree programs include:

• Understanding revenue and financial models that drive the TV and media industry.
• Exhibiting competence with the tools of financial analysis.
• Developing the ability to assess present and emerging TV technology sufficiently to manage TV organizations at the highest levels.
• Functioning in the multi-dimensional world of programming that includes knowledge of content production, syndication, programming and counter-programming response mechanisms, and understanding the complexities of multi-platform content delivery.
• Identifying public interest needs of the community to create media-centric responses that reflect meaningful levels of civic engagement.
• Comprehending and exercising the leadership skills required to lead every level of the television industry and to understand the challenges of managing and leading a creative staff.

The graduate program in Television & Media Management integrates content from best practices in business with specific focus in the broader television and media industry. Students take a well-rounded set of courses through an interdisciplinary curriculum, learning critical skill sets that will not only help grow the businesses for which they work but also their careers. The current curriculum is available here.

Television & Media Management Unique Features and Benefits

Through coursework, team projects and presentations, simulations, programming and audience measurement exercises, as well as the insights of visiting professionals from all segments of the television and media industry, students are exposed to the kind of practical problem solving demanded by this fast-paced industry. Course content is continually expanded and updated to cover an ever-evolving landscape that encompasses a wide array of streaming entertainment services in addition to traditional television networks and distributors. The unique features and benefits of the Television & Media Management graduate program that prepare students for exciting roles within the industry include:

• Study abroad opportunities: The Television & Media Management program includes a hybrid study abroad option with its Global TV: London online course that engages thought leaders in the UK as instructors and that brings students to London in week nine of the ten-week course to meet with those instructors who are found at the BBC, ITV, CNN London, NBC London and a number of other media thought leaders based in the UK. The course and field work are led by Karen Curry, a member of Drexel’s faculty and former London Bureau Chief for NBC. Graduate students may also participate in the Cinema & TV Department’s Cuban Documentary Program.
• Community-based learning: The faculty and students often engage civically around projects that form part of their co-curricular experience. These projects have encompassed work with Elwyn and the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute that has included production of instructional videos about autism targeted at minority communities, student placements at the Ryan Seacrest Studios at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, and documentaries shot independently by graduate students, including the works of Kaila Taylor in Ecuador, Rebecca Abboud in Philadelphia and Lily Mao for the UN in Pakistan.
• Internship opportunities: The program maintains robust working relationships with television and media management professionals in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles and our students benefit from internships in these cities and elsewhere around the world.

“My classmates at Drexel were very diverse. I met a lot of different people that I wouldn’t normally meet; they were all very passionate about what they are doing, very driven -- it was a great group. All of my classmates really worked hard …you know they gave it their all. In addition to that, I really felt that the faculty were 110% behind us in giving us all of the tools and research that we needed in order to become successful. I never expected to get to where I wanted to be so quickly and I think that Drexel really helped me to do that. It really helped me understand what direction I wanted to take with my career and I’m so happy. I tell people now that I have my dream job. If I had to do it all over again I would.”
- Roberta Harrington, Senior Project Manager, Research and Evaluation, CNN, New York

Career Opportunities in Television & Media Management

Graduates of the Television & Media Management program hold positions at leading media companies around the world across multiple disciplines. The following are examples of companies and positions our successful alums of the Television & Media Management program have obtained:

TVMM Alumni: Representative Employment




Employer	Position
CBS Television Stations	Account Executive
China International Broadcasting Network	Manager Content Acq./Sales
CNN	Sr. Project Manager, Research and Analytics
CNN	Senior Commercial Log Specialist at CNN en Espanol
Comcast	Success Manager/Program Manager
Comcast	HR Coordinator
Comcast	Xfinity Platform Content Manager
Comcast Spotlight	Sr. Analyst, Advertising Research at Comcast Spotlight
Global MMK GmbH (Zagreb)	Audience Data Analyst
Hubei TV Station (China)	Producer
Hulu	Account Executive
Island TV Miami	Exec. Asst to CEO of Island TV/Mgr. Imaginart Media
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	Protocol Specialist, Ministry of Defense
Manifesto_18 (Kyiv)	Founder
Meredith Corporation	Executive Director Video
MetLife	Director of Identity and Access Management Technology
National Geographic Channels	Director of Programming and Scheduling
NBCUniversal Media	Director Sports & Entertainment Sales Marketing
NBCUniversal Media	Manager, Insights and Measurement
NBCUniversal Media (London)	Research Consultant
Netflix	Data Specialist, Studio Product Innovation
Nielsen	Content Editor Social Media
Pure Draw Media (Shandong)	Deputy General Manager Operations
Subaru of America	Integrated Media Specialist
Sugar Music (Rome)	International Project Manager
Tegna and Premion	Regional Account Executive
University of Pennsylvania Penn Medicine	Video Producer
USA Network	Senior Social Media Manager
Viacom	Manager Program Planning and Scheduling
WarnerMedia	Marketplace Research Director
WarnerMedia	Sr. Manager Consumer Insights
WSMV (Nashville)	News Producer
Xinghua News Agency (Beijing)	Public Relations Manager