Frank Joseph Biondi Jr. (January 9, 1945 – November 25, 2019) was an American businessman and entertainment executive, who held leadership roles at

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

Early life and education

Biondi was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, to Virginia Willis and Frank Biondi Sr., and was raised in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

. His father was a former executive at

Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company was the initial corporate entity from which the Bell System originated to build a continental conglomerate and monopoly in telecommunication services in the United States and Canada. The company was organized in Bost ...

. Biondi graduated from Livingston High School in 1964 and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1994. He graduated with an A.B. in psychology from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1966 after completing an 81-page long senior thesis titled "The Use of a Biographical Inventory for Junior Executive Recruitment in a Large Retail Firm." He later received a M.B.A. from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

In 1968, Biondi got his start as a financial analyst and investment banker on Wall Street for

Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt, originally Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill, was an American investment banking and brokerage firm founded in 1960 and acquired by American Express in 1981. In its two decades as an independent firm, Cogan, Berlind ...

. There, he met Clarence B. Jones, who recommended him for a consulting job at

TelePrompTer Corporation TelePrompTer Corporation was an American media company that existed from approximately 1950 until 1981. The company was named for its Teleprompter, eponymous primary product, a display device invented by Hubert Schlafly which scrolls Written lang ...

, one of the largest cable companies at the time. However, TelePrompTer had defrauded its investors by misrepresenting their cash flow. In response, the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

placed a trade block on their stock for around 100 days, which tanked its valuation. Biondi was let go as a result of corporate restructuring. He later found employment with the nonprofit, Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), who produced ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' and ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. ...

'', in 1974. After a tumultuous time at TelePrompTer, he cites the relatively "nice, safe" environment of a non-profit as the reason he chose the job at CTW. Michael J. Fuchs recruited Biondi to

in 1978 as head of co-productions. Biondi initially expressed disinterest in joining and rejected their initial offer. He later became the president and CEO in 1983. Fuchs replaced him as HBO CEO the following year. In 1985, Biondi went on to serve as external vice president for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

's entertainment business sector. In 1986, Coca-Cola consolidated its television companies —

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems ...

Embassy Communications ELP Communications (formerly known as T.A.T. Communications Company, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Embassy Communications) was an American television production company founded in 1974 by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio. ...

, and

Merv Griffin Enterprises Merv Griffin Enterprises was an American television production company founded by Merv Griffin, in operation from March 7, 1963, to June 4, 1994. History The company was first established as Milbarn Productions on March 7, 1963, and later as M ...

— into Coca-Cola Television, and Biondi was tapped to serve as its CEO. Coca-Cola Television was eventually spun off and sold to

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, which is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The compan ...

in 1987. TriStar subsequently renamed itself

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

and its founder,

Victor Kaufman The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, continued his role as CEO of the merged company. Biondi was the president and CEO of

from 1987 to 1996 and the chairman and CEO of

from 1996 to 1998. Afterwards, he co-founded the media and technology focused investment firm WaterView Advisors in 1999. Biondi was an avid tennis player and helped finance the creation of the

Tennis Channel Tennis Channel is an American sports digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of tennis, al ...

with fellow former Viacom CEOs

Philippe Dauman Philippe Pierre Dauman (born March 1, 1954) is an American businessman who was president, CEO and chairman of Viacom from September 2006 until May 20, 2016. Dauman was a longtime associate of the company's chairman Sumner Redstone. From 1994 t ...

and Thomas E. Dooley in 2001. Together they are known as the "Viacom mafia". At his summer residence in

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

, he was a board member for the Vineyard Family Tennis Foundation. In the later part of his life, Biondi was a director of

RealD RealD Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held company known for its RealD 3D system, which is used for projecting 3D film, films in stereoscopic 3D using circularly polarized light. The company was founded in 2003 by Michael Lewis (ent ...

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

Caesars Entertainment Corporation Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven g ...

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

, Viasat, and Seagate.

Personal life

Biondi met Carol Oughton while working at the TelePrompTer Corporation. In 1974, the couple wed and together, they had two daughters, Anne Biondi Simonds and Jane Biondi Munna. His son-in-law is film producer

Robert Simonds Robert Bruce Simonds Jr. (born 1964) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder & chairman of STX Entertainment, which creates, produces, distributes, finances, and markets film (as STXfilms), television (as STXtelevision), dig ...

. Biondi died from

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

at his home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on November 25, 2019. He was 74 years old.

References

External links

Frank Biondi's profile on Forbes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biondi, Frank J. 1945 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American media executives Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Businesspeople from New York City NBCUniversal people Directors of Yahoo! Harvard Business School alumni Livingston High School (New Jersey) alumni Princeton University alumni Deaths from bladder cancer in California Sesame Workshop people Sony Pictures Entertainment people HBO people Paramount Global people