Brad Schwartz has been listed among Broadcasting and Cable’s “Next Wave of Leaders”, The
Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation”, CableFax’s “Top 100 Power Players”, named one of
“Canada’s Top 40 Under 40” Leaders and was inducted into the CableFax Hall of Fame.
He is currently the President of Entertainment at The CW, America’s fifth national television
network reaching 120+ Million Homes as well as an AVOD streaming app that has almost 100
Million downloads. Schwartz is responsible for programming strategy, creative and brand
development, communications, and day-to-day operations of The CW Network.
Prior to The CW, Schwartz led the high profile, award-winning rebrand of The TV Guide
Network to Pop TV, which debuted in 2015 as a CBS & Lionsgate Joint Venture and purchased
by ViacomCBS (NYSE: VIAC) in 2020. Overseeing both creative and business operations, the
network achieved six consecutive years of growth in audience and revenue. In 2020, Pop TV was
the fastest growing (non- news) network in all of television.
Commissioned by The CBC and produced in association with Pop TV, Schwartz brought
flagship original series “Schitt’s Creek” to the network, which received 4 Emmy Nominations in
2019, making Pop only the second basic cable network in history with a Best Comedy Series
Emmy Nomination. In 2020, “Schitt’s Creek” won more Emmys than any comedy series in
history and Pop TV won more Emmys than any media brand besides HBO and Netflix. Schwartz
also brought Norman Lear’s LatinX reboot of “One Day At A Time” to Pop TV, which won 2
Emmy Awards and became the highest rated Original Series Premiere in the history of the
network. Both series were nominated at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Comedy
Series. Pop’s original series “Flack,” starring Academy Award winner Anna Paquin was licensed
to Amazon as a Prime Original. According to Nielsen streaming charts, “Schitts Creek” was the
#6 series in all of streaming in 2020.
Throughout his career, Schwartz has led the transformation or launch of six different media
brands and has served as a top executive for MSG Media, Bell Media, Lionsgate and
ViacomCBS. Prior to Pop, he was SVP of Programming and Operations for Fuse, where he led
an award-winning rebrand campaign, delivered the highest ratings in the network’s history,
created a Top-10 YouTube partner channel, and discovered critically acclaimed programming
and talent including Amy Schumer, the Emmy-nominated “Billy on The Street” with Billy
Eichner, Prentice Penny’s Image Award-winning “The Hustle,” GLAAD-winning Best Reality
Series “Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce” and developed the Emmy and Peabody-winning “Hip
Hop Evolution” with Banger Films.
Prior to Fuse, Schwartz served as General Manager of a portfolio of eight music and pop culture
networks in Canada, including MTV Canada & MuchMusic. Within three years of launching
MTV, the channel became a top 10 network and a profitable business. During his tenure, the
MTV Team created the Gemini-winning “MTV Live,” pioneered the After-Show concept with
the North American-wide hit “The Hills After Show” and won global awards for the network’s
brand identity. Later, he merged MTV and MuchMusic to reach more than 48% of all young
Canadians every week, driving double-digit increases in ratings and revenue. The MuchMusic
Team delivered the highest-rated year in its 30 year history, which included the highest rated
non-sports cable program on television “The MuchMusic Video Awards”, Emmy-nominated
“Degrassi,” winner of the Peabody Award, and produced Martin Gero’s first TV show “The L.A.
Complex.” Schwartz launched and led VEVO in Canada.
Earlier in his career, Schwartz was Director of Global Marketing at MTV and began his career
working for Lorne Michaels at “Saturday Night Live.” He is a member of PROMAX/BDA’s
Board of Directors and the New York Television Festival Board. Schwartz is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.