Judi Lopez

Judi Lopez is a cable industry veteran with more than 26 years in the fields of content distribution, affiliate marketing and advocacy.  She is a leading expert in multi-platform media with a specialization in authoring and executing cutting-edge distribution strategies, and has guided several influential content providers across emerging platforms including TV Everywhere. 

 

In her current role, Lopez is responsible for affiliate distribution and marketing for Fuse, a national cable network for a young multicultural and Latino audience with a broad array of high-quality content including music, comedy, culture and lifestyle programming – and FM, new a cable network and digital media brand that delivers an innovative programming line-up with music at its core.

 

Lopez joined SíTV (now known as Fuse Media) in 2009, helping NUVOtv, English-language destination for Latino entertainment, double its availability as well as launch in HD.  She oversaw the successful rebranding of the network from SíTV to NUVOtv in 2011 and most recently, was a key part of the leadership team relaunching Fuse, as the network expanded beyond its music roots to become the largest independent multicultural and largest Hispanic-targeted cable network.  She has recently crafted renewal deals for Fuse and distribution agreements for new music network FM that have the networks available in approximately 70 million and more than 35 million homes, respectively. 

 

Lopez is also responsible for all national and local advocacy efforts, meeting regularly with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and other Hispanic organizations to advance the voice of Latinos in the media. Additionally, she was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission’s Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age in 2013.

 

Previously, she held senior executive positions at AMC Networks for nine years, including leading the national content distribution strategy and affiliate marketing efforts for AMC, Bravo, Fuse, IFC and WE tv. Prior to AMC, she had a nine-year tenure in the finance and distribution divisions for Disney Channel, leading the company’s C-band (Disney Channel Home Satellite) as part of the inaugural team that launched the network with DIRECTV and DISH Network. She also led the strategic team that spearheaded the Disney Channel’s evolution from a premium to basic service, and helped launch Toon Disney (now Disney XD) and SOAPnet (now Disney Junior).

 

Lopez has served as treasurer for the board of directors of the T. Howard Foundation, been a member and mentor of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), and a member of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT). In 2016, Lopez will be among a select group of female executives invited to participate in the WICT Senior Executive Summit (SES), presented in partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is also a 2015 Multichannel News "Wonder Women" honoree, and has been named to CableFAX: The Magazine‘s prestigious "Most Influential Minorities" and "Most Powerful Women in Cable" lists. Most recently, Lopez was selected as part of a small group of industry leaders invited to share her oral history as part of The Cable Center’s Hauser Oral History project. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from California Polytechnic State University in Pomona, California.  She also attended Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) University at Harvard Business School.