HGTV Executive Wins
National Acclaim

Photo by Joe Howell Susan Packard, chief operating officer of Home & Garden Television, in her Knoxville office.

Women in Cable & Telecommunications laud her as Woman of the Year. But Susan Packard says her achievements belong to the HGTV team.

By LOUISE DURMAN
Scripps Howard News Contributor

Teamwork was the issue that turned Susan Packard's sights from a vice presidency with CNBC to the launching of the Home & Garden Television network.

"I had a sense that what they valued, I valued," she says of her initial meetings with HGTV officials.

"They were trying to put together a team that is smart, has a sense of humor and values teamwork. At CNBC, it was a territorial environment, and that is not me," she says.

The HGTV senior team has remained together. "We all get along. We respect what each other does, and we try to help each other." She cites Ken Lowe, who is HGTV founder, president and CEO; Frank Gardner, who is senior vice president of Scripps broadcast division, and Ed Spray, who is executive vice president of programming for HGTV, as great team leaders.

Packard, 43, is chief operating officer of Knoxville-based HGTV, which was launched Dec. 30, 1994. It quickly became the nation's fastest-growing cable network, and today has more than 40 million subscribers. She is responsible for the network's business operations, including its international office. She has a staff of 80 or 90.

Packard also has responsibility for the affiliate sales departments for HGTV, Food Network and DIY (Do-It-Yourself). The E.W. Scripps Co., managing partner of the Food Network, owns and operates HGTV and DIY. DIY is a new digital network that will offer step-by-step programming and data for current and future technologies.

In May, Packard received the Woman of the Year Accolade Award from the National Women in Cable & Telecommunications organization in Atlanta, an honor she shares with previous winners like Oprah Winfrey and Linda Ellerbee. Packard was selected for the contributions she made to the industry in 1997. She says the organization was aware of HGTV's success in appealing to women.

"It is not demeaning," she says of its programs. "Women are so busy, especially homemakers, and they want some good shows in the daytime. They may have the TV turned on as comfort, background noise, but they watch some of it."

She's quick to say that HGTV programs also appeal to men with topics that affect their lives, too.

She loves the specials HGTV has begun producing ­ a recent hardware show, the uninterrupted Rose Bowl Parade (without commercials). "That has been very popular for us."

Some programs are produced by Cinetel Productions, also headquartered in Knoxville. HGTV, on the air 24 hours a day, now has more than 80 series.

"Producers bring ideas, and we fit the right idea to what our programming philosophy is about."

The network now has more than 750 advertisers.

"HGTV is making a little bit of money this year, for the first time," she says.

Packard is petite, with short dark hair, snappy brown eyes. She runs at least three times a week and has started resistance training, lifting weights.

 

Susan and Bill Packard with their 7-year-old son Andrew. She says her own struggles finding balance as a mother and busy executive help her relate to some of the programs on HGTV and the new DIY network.

She also may be found at the ballpark with her husband, Bill Packard, who teaches at Pellissippi State Technical Community College and Andrew, 7, a Sacred Heart student who plays Little League baseball.

Packard is originally from Detroit and received under-graduate and graduate degrees from Michigan State University in advertising and telecommunications.

Her first job was in market research in Cincinnati. Then a friend at Home Box Office (HBO) recruited Packard to join that network in 1980. She spent eight years there, moving up in HBO ranks and serving in offices in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Next, she became part of the start-up team for CNBC in Los Angeles. She served as vice president of affiliate relations and national accounts.

"It was exciting because it was the beginning of a new industry, and we are still at the beginning of a new industry. We have so much growth opportunity," she says of HGTV.

She loves living in Knoxville. "It's the best place to raise a family. We have met and made life-long friends."

The Packards have recently built a home so among her favorite HGTV programs are the decorating shows. Her husband likes the repairs and remodeling shows.

Her own struggles finding balance as a mother and busy executive help her relate to some of the programs on HGTV and the new DIY network, which she says will have children's programs and crafts.

She says neither she nor Bill cook a lot, but in the summer they may have more routine meals. With HGTV offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York, Packard's job entails a tremendous amount of travel. Packard visits both the advertising and affiliate sales people in these offices and goes out on calls with them.

She tries to cut down on travel during the summer to be with her family, and they all look forward to a planned vacation to Fripp Island.

Packard serves on the Women in Cable and Telecommunications board, as well as on the National CTAM marketing board and on an advisory committee to the National Cable Television Association.

Though she's a Big Ten graduate, she is active with the University of Tennessee and is on the board of the visitors bureau. She also contributes her efforts toward the cable and telecommunications curriculums at UT, and she has guest lectured at UT, Michigan State and Ohio University. She serves on the Junior Achievement of East Tennessee board.