Thomas Ziangas

Senior Vice President, Research AMC Networks

As senior vice president of research, Thomas Ziangas plays an integral role in the ongoing development of AMC Networks’ (formerly Rainbow Media Holdings) popular and award-winning brands – AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv – by identifying, securing and analyzing all relevant research, including programming and ad sales/sponsorship research.  Ziangas’ efforts are central to helping the networks strategize future growth; develop market and brand positioning; establish each network effectively in national and local marketplaces for ad sales/sponsorship and distribution; build powerful programming and scheduling strategies; and where applicable, build Nielsen ratings.

A research industry veteran, Ziangas joined AMC Networks in 2009 from Nielsen Media Research, where he held various posts during his 12-year tenure.  His last post at Nielsen was senior vice president of Nielsen Expanded Media Services.  In that role, Ziangas helped clients assess the value of their brands and sponsorships by tracking TV viewership, advertiser spending, consumer behavior and attitudes and consumer loyalty/product purchasing.

Prior to Nielsen Media Research, Ziangas worked at The Family Channel (now ABC Family) for four years.  At The Family Channel, he served as a manager of sales development and before that in their ad sales research department.  Ziangas worked with agencies and their advertisers and was responsible for all ratings estimates for the network.  He began his career in 1986 working in the Nielsen Homevideo Index (NHI) research department, servicing cable network accounts such as ESPN, Lifetime and MTV Networks.  During Ziangas’ tenure at NHI, he spearheaded a number of key initiatives.  As their CONCAM lead, he worked with cable network research leaders to map out the C3 initiative, incorporating their client feedback to implement a solution that would reflect the most accurate measurement for cable data.  In this role, Ziangas also worked with cable clients to include HD feeds for Nielsen reporting and provided clients with diagnostics and reports to better understand the HD and digital viewing environment.

Ziangas earned his Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from St. John’s University in New York.  He is a member of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), the Committee on National Cable Audience Measurement (CONCAM), the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS) and Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT).