Mark Shuken
Mark Shuken is a widely respected media, sports, and entertainment leader with a track record of driving business results at both major established and emerging sports networks. As President of Pac-12 Networks, Shuken is responsible for leading the country’s first national television network to be wholly owned by institutions of higher education.
Shuken brings to Pac-12 Networks two decades of experience in growing revenue, distribution, and overall value for sports networks. His prior leadership roles include running sports networks for major media companies such as Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Liberty Media, and Fox Sports, including having worked directly with many Pac-12 universities.
Throughout his career, Shuken has developed a reputation as an engaging and driven leader with an entrepreneurial spirit befitting the president of a first of its kind sports network like Pac-12 Networks. He is experienced in developing and driving successful strategies in collaboration with key media stakeholders across all areas of the sports media industry, including content, production, programming, distribution and revenue generation.
At Time Warner Cable Sports Networks, Shuken led the creation of three regional sports networks for the Los Angeles Lakers, the LA Dodgers, and the LA Galaxy from the ground up. He was also responsible for crafting the brand strategy and brand identity of the nation’s first Spanish-language RSN. Additionally, Shuken led the management of TWC’s seven proprietary local sports channels, including rights negotiations, development of core strategies, and coordination with TWC cable in subscriber acquisition and retention.
As President and CEO of DirecTV Sports Networks, Shuken led branding, content, cross-promotional, and acquisition strategies to increase asset value and subscriber acquisition. Before that, as President and CEO of Liberty Sports Group, he created and led a stand-alone division of regional sports networks for Liberty Media Corporation, where he significantly increased earnings, resulting in a more than 60 percent increase in net asset value when the division was sold.
Prior to that, at Fox Sports Net Northwest, Shuken was responsible for a significant increase in distribution, ratings, and brand presence, including through innovative programming strategies and partnership agreements with both professional and collegiate teams. For several years, he beat income targets by more than 30 percent annually.
Previously, Shuken also served as President of Rivals Networks, a leading digital network of over 600 sports websites, where he increased gross revenues by 400% and entered into distribution deals with major digital media companies.
A graduate of Santa Clara University, Shuken has also shared his expertise as an adjunct professor in communications at the University of Washington and Santa Clara University. Shuken additionally serves on the boards of two non-profit organizations: the Jim Mora Count on Me Foundation and NextStep Fitness.
Mark lives with his wife, Eliza and is the father of children Sarah, Scott and Steven, and stepchildren Tucker and Estelle.