When you oversee the spending of 30 percent of all national television upfront ad dollars, the positions you take on behalf of your clients during negotiations is going to have a significant impact on the marketplace.

In the 2007 upfront, Scanzoni moved the marketplace with an $800 million deal with NBC Universal that encompassed not only NBC but all of NBCU's cable properties. In doing so, Scanzoni set a benchmark for pricing and ushered in the C3 ratings as a new negotiating currency.

This year, Scanzoni may not have struck the first upfront deal, but network sales executives still fussed and fretted over just how he planned to negotiate more than $4 billion in TV ad dollars.

Scanzoni says he is pleased that C3 is working as he envisioned. He also negotiated with the TV networks last year to move commercial pods in shows outside of prime time (such as the late-night talk shows) earlier in each program, where ratings are higher—something the networks largely complied with.

This year, Scanzoni has spent much of his time setting up his "Addressable TV Initiative," which he will begin testing in 2009. In a nutshell, he has been meeting with network sales executives and cable and satellite TV operators—along with his clients—to develop a system under which a TV commercial airing nationally can be sent to different targeted homes via satellite or cable set-top boxes.

"As the number of total viewers for each show declines because of fragmentation, advertisers are going to need to be able to better target their messages," he explains.

2007 Rank: No. 1