Through his long and accomplished career in the entertainment, media and sports industries, Rich Battista has distinguished himself as a proven, five time CEO and a trusted Board Chairman/Director with significant experience and success operating, building, and revitalizing large-scale multiplatform companies, often within the nexus of media, content, and technology. As a CEO, Battista transformed and sold two multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies in Time Inc. and Gemstar-TV Guide. He also conceived of, built, and operated several highly valuable cable network businesses during his 18-year career within various Fox entertainment and sports divisions, including FX, National Geographic Channel, SPEED Channel, Fox Soccer Channel and FUEL TV.

Battista currently serves as executive chairman of ADWEEK, the leading multi-media platform covering the advertising and marketing industry and as executive chairman of Wave Sports + Entertainment, a leading next-generation digital content/podcast company. He also serves on the Boards of Main Street Sports Group, the owner of FanDuel Sports Network, the nation’s leading multiplatform provider of local live professional sports games; RB Media, the world’s largest audiobook publisher; and The Teaching Company, owner of the video lifelong learning brand, The Great Courses.

Battista holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. He is the founder and chairman of the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance (GEMA), an alumni networking organization comprised of over 5,000 Georgetown alumni media and sports professionals as well as Georgetown students interested in the industry.