Angus Ross, Director of network programming, Seven
Most of the key Seven executives have made this list in the past few years as the broadcaster cemented its place as the #1 TV network. Now is the time for giving credit to the person scheduling at the house of hits. Not everything works first time, but Ross always seems to have a plan B that works, which is part programming skills mixed with a little bit of luck. Ross has been with Seven for close to 17 years. He first arrived in Sydney from Adelaide and landed a job with David Castran at Audience Development Australia working on pilot testing, program research and he was part of Castran’s team that developed Q-scores. Ross joined Seven after former programmer Chris O’Mara offered him a job in 1999. Although Seven should start 2017 #1 again courtesy of My Kitchen Rules, it will face possibly its biggest challenge from Nine and Ten for several years, let alone all the other platforms chasing audiences for video content.