Sorry folks, this blog has nothing to do with home shopping, but it does have a tie to cable.
Covering the cable TV industry we got to know Rich Ross, and we saw him rise up the corporate ladder at Walt Disney Co., from top posts at Disney Channel, to president of Disney Channels Worldwide. He is incredibly smart, a great programmer, a funny guy and the nicest person you’ll ever meet from Long Island.
This rising star just got a huge promotion, and was named chairman of the ailing Walt Disney Studios, the Mouse House’s movie studio. If anyone can turn around that disaster, Rich can.
Many years back, we remember meeting Rich for drinks at the Royalton in Manhattan. It was a hot summer day, and Rich said he had taken his shirt off because he was running late and literally sped over on foot. He didn’t want to get his shirt dirty. By the way, he was wearing it when he came into the bar. Don’t deny it Rich, that’s how we remember it.
Disney Channel has a party Thanksgiving eve, a gathering that overlooks the Macy’s Day Parade balloons being inflated. One year, Rich had a good laugh when he saw us do a doubletake when we spotted him talking to actress Jodie Foster at that shindig.
And at the Emmy Awards last year in Los Angeles, we ran into Rich in the lobby. As always, he was friendly and entertaining. He did make a comment about the huge necklace we were wearing (no, it wasn’t from QVC). Rich, it was crystal quartz. We weren’t trying to make like we were wearing a dozen one-inch diamonds!
At one point along the line, we tried to get Rich to dish the dirt on Britney Spears, who he had worked with at Disney Channel when she was very young. But all he would say was that she was very professional and a hard worker.
So Rich, mazel tov. We look forward to seeing the strategy you take with movies.
Homeshoppingista's Blog By Linda Moss 