MIKE MAHAN, 39
PRESIDENT, DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS
Mahan’s event TV portfolio includes the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Golden Globes and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest. The measure of a show’s quality “tends to be the ratings,” says the UCLA grad, and, to cite one monster success, the ACM Awards’ 50th anniversary, which was co-hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, drew 15.8 million viewers, a 17-year high. Mahan and his wife are expecting their second child on Dec. 31. “Gives new meaning to ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,’ ” he says.
MUSIC RÉSUMÉ :“I can’t sing. But playing ‘Name That Tune in ’90s Country Music,’ I could give most people a run for their money.”
CHRIS OLIVIERO, 38
EXECUTIVE VP PROGRAMMING, CBS RADIO
On Oliviero’s watch, CBS Radio added new affiliates in Philadelphia and Miami, “which now gives us 13 top 40 and 11 country stations in the top 35 markets,” says the one-time Howard Stern intern. “This allows us to do things not only locally but on a greater scale, and integrating those stations was a big accomplishment for our programming department.” CBS reports it now reaches 72 million listeners each week on multiple platforms. “Radio is no longer terrestrial,” says Oliviero, citing CBS’ expanded online, mobile and social footprint. “Our goal is to bring content and personalities to wherever people are. We can no longer assume they are going to come to us.”
IF I WASN’T IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS “I’d be a priest, a politician or pro-wrestling manager — all jobs that, as a kid, fascinated me.”
VINCENT USURIELLO, 29
PROGRAM DIRECTOR; OCTANE, E STREET RADIO, SIRIUSXM RADIO
“Octane moves the needle,” says Usuriello of the innovative active rock channel that he programs — along with the Bruce Springsteen-centric E Street Radio — for the satellite radio service. “You instantly see a reaction in sales, streams or views when we start playing a song.” Since taking the Octane reins in 2013, Usuriello has strengthened the channel’s appeal among SiriusXM’s more than 28.4 million subscribers, playing acts from Metallica to upstarts Nothing More and programming new shows like the acoustic Octane Unleaded. “We’re always looking to give listeners the next big thing,” he says.
GREATEST RECENT ACHIEVEMENT: “Our coverage in May of Rock on the Range, hard rock’s biggest festival of the summer.”
JULIE GUROVITSCH, 33
TALENT EXECUTIVE, MUSIC, THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON
The Tonight Show has led the late-night competition with 3.8 million viewers overall for the 2014-to-2015 season, according to NBC, and music is a great part of Fallon’s draw. Gurovitsch, a former Today music producer who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, took over as his lead music booker in April, “right when Fetty Wap was heating up,” says the Minneapolis native. “He had just done an award show but hadn’t done any TV performances, so that was one of the first things I booked.” She scouts talent five nights a week and has found Fallon “enthusiastic” about showcasing new artists.
BIG BREAK: “Running into a colleague at 4 a.m. in a bar. She was leaving her job as booker for The Ellen DeGeneres Show [in 2006], and she recommended me as her replacement.”