Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive officer of USA Networks Inc., will present the next installment of Syracuse University's 2002 Spring University Lectures at 2 p.m. Feb. 21 in Studio A of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Newhouse School.
Diller will discuss the state of the film and television industry today, and he will take questions from the audience. The session will be moderated by Newhouse School Dean David Rubin.
USA Networks Inc. is focused on the new convergence of entertainment, information and direct selling. The company is organized within two groups, the Entertainment Group and the Interactive Group, comprised of interrelated business divisions which include the following assets: USA Entertainment's USA Network, SCI FI Channel, TRIO, NWI, Crime, Studios USA and USA Films; and USA Interactive's HSN; HSN International; HSN Interactive; Ticketmaster, which operates Citysearch and Match.com Hotel Reservations Network; Electronic Commerce Solutions; Styleclick and Precision Response Corp.
From December 1996 until February 1998, Diller served as the chairman and chief executive officer of HSN Inc. HSN Inc. was formed in December 1996 by the merger of Silver King Communications Inc., Home Shopping Network Inc. and Savoy Pictures Entertainment Inc. In August 1995, Diller joined Silver King Communications as chairman and chief executive officer and Home Shopping Network as a member of the board of directors. In November 1995, he was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Home Shopping Network Inc.
From December 1992 through December 1994, Diller served as chairman and chief executive officer of QVC Inc. From October 1984 to April 1992,
Diller served as chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Inc. As chairman, he guided Fox through the purchase of seven television stations in major U.S. markets and the formation of Fox Television Stations Inc. He also oversaw the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company, a satellite-delivered national television program service.
Before joining Fox, Diller served for 10 years as the chairman of the board of directors of Paramount Pictures Corp. In March 1983, in addition to running Paramount, Diller became president of the conglomerate's newly formed Entertainment and Communications Group, which included Simon & Schuster Inc., Madison Square Garden Corp. and SEGA Enterprises Inc. Prior to joining Paramount, Diller served as vice president of prime time television for ABC Entertainment.
Diller was born in San Francisco and raised in Beverly Hills. He serves on the New York University Board of Trustees, and on the boards of Conservation International, the Museum of Television and Radio, Channel 13/WNET and The Washington Post. He is a member of the Board of Councilors for the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California and the Executive Board for the Medical Sciences at UCLA, and a member of the advisory board for the Center For Health Communication at Harvard University's School of Public Health.
The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications. The lecture series is supported through a generous contribution by SU Trustee Robert B. Menschel '51 and is consistent with initiatives in the University's Academic Plan directed at expanding multidisciplinary discourse for students.
