Pub GuideRice, Jane Clare
JANE Clare Rice is the senior vice president of distribution and field sales for A+E Networks, an award-winning, global media content company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from television networks to websites, to home videos/DVDs to gaming and educational software.
A+E Networks channels and branded programming reach more than 250 million households in over 150 countries. A+E Networks is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.
Based in New York, Rice oversees all affiliate field sales for AETN’s portfolio of ten linear networks, including A&E, History and Lifetime, as well as their video-on-demand, HD services and online endeavors.
Most recently, Rice was the vice president of field sales for Disney and ESPN Media Networks. In this capacity, she developed local sales strategies for the company’s portfolio of 40 products and services in the eastern U.S., and managed the distribution efforts for all related new media content, including HDTV, broadband, video-on-demand, interactive television, pay-per-view and sports syndication.
A native of Downpatrick, Co. Down, Rice earned an LLB with honors in law from University College London. She moved to the U.S. after winning a green card in the Morrison visa lottery in the early 1990s.
“I am so proud to be Irish. We’re a nation rich in history, steeped in culture and overflowing with humor and warmth,” says Rice.
“We’ve had our fair share of struggles over the centuries, but I believe that helps us connect with so many other people and nations in a way that it is very real and meaningful.”
Rice and her husband Michael McDermott have two daughters, Madeline Rose, 10, and Catherine Ella, three.
She is a member of the Gaelic American Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, and a member of Ardglass Golf Club in Co. Down.
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