"I get paid to watch a lot of TV - what's wrong with that?" joked Bob Meyers, when asked to describe his day-to-day routine as senior vice president of primetime for CNBC.
Meyers (LA '77) now oversees all primetime programming for the cable business news network, but it was at parent network NBC that Meyers embarked on his diverse and accomplished career path in the entertainment industry.
Meyers' journey began in the NBC Sports department, where he was a production manager for ten years. "I worked on every sporting event you can imagine, from World Cup soccer, to the Super Bowl, to the World Series, to world water skiing championships," Meyers said.
His career at NBC culminated (temporarily) at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, where Meyers was the head of production.
At this point, a friend who had left NBC to pursue an opportunity at Viacom recruited Meyers to join him at the new company. "The programs were young and needed veterans to get them off the ground," Meyers said.
Meyers decided to follow his friend to Viacom, where he ran the company's interactive services division.
During this time, Meyers' r?©sum?© grew to include projects for MTV, VH1, Blockbuster, Showtime, Nickelodeon, and Universal Studios, which Meyers helped to build.
Meyers eventually ended up returning to the company that gave him his first job, however.
"In 1996, NBC became serious about the interactive business with MSNBC," he said. "They needed someone to coordinate the interactive part of it, as well as the cable network. They brought me back, and I worked on developing a lot of interactive aspects, including CNBC.com, which I ran."
With his years of experience and leadership in the programming side of the entertainment industry, Meyers decided to switch departments at CNBC: he relocated from the interactive division to his current position in primetime programming.
Despite his jests that his occupation allows him to spend all day in front of the tube, Meyers' television viewing comes with a great deal of responsibility.
"I watch everything that goes on the air," Meyers said. "I have to know what the issues are, who we have on air, and whether or not the content needs editing."
With the recent launch of a new primetime line-up featuring "McEnroe" and "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch," Meyers has been especially busy lately.
Meyers likes to get a head start on all this work: although primetime television doesn't begin on CNBC until 7 p.m. weekdays and 5 p.m. weekends, Meyers typically starts his day at 6 a.m. After familiarizing himself with that night's programming, he immediately turns his attention to the following day's booking.
When Meyers returns home from TV land at the end of the day, it's time for perhaps his most important job: "helping my thirteen year old with algebra," he said.
Thanks to Meyers' passion for the entertainment business, he says his busy schedule hardly seems like work. "I made sure that whatever I did, didn't feel like a job," he said. "The entertainment business is fun. Pretty much everyone can relate to it."
There are also a few perks that come with the job. "We're always meeting on-air personalities," Meyers said.
Meyers remembers being drawn to this line of work since his days as a copy boy. However, since Meyers had what he calls an "eclectic mix of interests," television was not the sole choice of career path for this Jumbo.
In fact, Meyers received his B.A. in political science. "I was always interested in entertainment, but also [enjoyed] political science and government as well," Meyers said. "My mother wanted me to be a lawyer."
Despite taking the law boards and being accepted to law school, Meyers switched his focus from politics to finance, first in his studies abroad at the London School of Economics, and later at Columbia Business School.
Meyers' extracurricular activities while an undergraduate at Tufts, however, were indicative of his interest in media. Besides being an editor for the on-campus publication The Tufts Observer, Meyers took the initiative to create films about diverse academic subjects.
"I developed film programs for professors in different departments," Meyers said. "The religion department actually integrated one as part of the program of the department, as did the English department with a Shakespeare film I made."
Meyers did not spend all of his free time writing and producing. He was also a member of the Tufts Ski Team.
Although Meyers went on to receive his MBA, he couldn't forget about the entertainment business. Meyers recalls a career fair where he "took the only interview with a media company that was offered - NBC. I ignored all the investment banking ones."
Even with such an impressive and wide-ranging career, Meyers still considers his experience at Tufts among his fondest of memories.
"Seven of my best friends to this day are Tufts graduates," Meyers said. "We started [to become close] freshman year during Columbus Day weekend, when we took a trip to Camden, Maine. We have been doing that [every year] since, and this year will be our 30th anniversary."
"The relationships that I made there have lasted my whole life so far," said Meyers, whose closest friend (and former best man) is a Tufts alum. "[Tufts] is still a very, very important part of my life."
Meyers credits his success to the fact that he pursued what he was truly passionate about, and recommends current Jumbos do the same.
"Follow what is your passion. Figure out what you love to do and delve into it; really wrestle with the issues," Meyers said. "The passion I had [at Tufts] is still equal to the passion I have now."
