If the media industry were ever in need of a superhero, it would be now. Dark recessionary forces are threatening just about every facet of business, with layoffs and budget cuts becoming a fact of life. Some industries are more vulnerable than others. Radio, magazines and newspapers are grappling with how to create or integrate new digital products to keep their legacy brands afloat. Meanwhile, television, be it cable, broadcast or syndication, has its own set of challenges, from embracing new forms of measurement to cooking up content that keeps eyeballs glued to the tube.

It's clearly become tougher for executives to stand out, if not keep their jobs. But the media industries are dotted with hard-charging execs who have advanced their businesses by building new revenue streams and introducing new industry standards. While the Zuckers and Moonveses all get the credit, it's often those a rung or two below who set the stage and strike the deals. Some are high profile while others run smaller businesses. Our second Mediaweek 50 singles them out, ranking the (mostly) unsung heroes in programming, publishing, research, and the buying and selling of media.

Ranked No. 1, Turner's David Levy rocketed to the top from No. 9 last year, having crashed the broadcast upfront party. Levy made buyers pay attention to cable's storied assets, won hefty 10 percent CPM hikes and possibly forever changed how cable is perceived in the marketplace. And new to the list this year is CBS Radio's David Goodman, who at No. 36 is leading the charge to evolve radio from a terrestrial medium to a new media hybrid that includes video. If there were ever a disciple of integrated media, it's Goodman.

With our Watch List, we again look ahead to identify up-and-comers as well as established execs in new, challenging roles. While we highlight 10 execs in this issue, check out mediaweek.com for more, as well as a breakdown of the Mediaweek 50 by industry segment.
-The Editors

Methodology

The Mediaweek 50 was months in the making.

Senior editors Katy Bachman, Marc Berman, John Consoli, Anthony Crupi, Alan Frutkin, Lucia Moses and Mike Shields carefully tracked and debated the industry's game-changers, spoke to analysts and crunched audience, circulation and ad sales data to base their selections on the following criteria:

• Executives' oversight of properties and/or departments

• The overall impact execs have on their industries, in terms of setting new industry standards or best practices

• The worth of media buyers' accounts and the deals they've cut, be they M&A, partnerships or sponsorships

• The traction execs boasted in areas such as advertising revenue, ratings, audience growth and media accounts

• Digital stats, which include the creation of new or advanced products, and the integration of new and traditional media.