Susanne McAvoy

Susanne McAvoy is Food Network’s Senior Vice President of Marketing.  In this role, she oversees all marketing, creative services, strategy and partnerships for the iconic lifestyle brand that inspires and entertains through its talent and expertise in food.

Previously, she served as Executive Vice President of marketing, creative and communications for Crown Media Family Networks, where she led cross-departmental marketing and communications campaigns and directed social media initiatives and SVOD strategies for the company’s portfolio of businesses, including its linear television networks, streaming service and publishing division. In this capacity, McAvoy oversaw the development of multi-platform campaigns that targeted consumers, affiliates, and advertisers.

During her career at Crown Media Family Networks, she spearheaded the rebrand of Hallmark Channel in 2012 to include a new look and tagline, “The Heart of TV,” as well as the 2014 brand transition of Hallmark Movie Channel to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She was a driving force behind campaigns that positioned Hallmark Channel for 17 straight quarters of double-digit sales growth and was instrumental in the brand development and creative logistics for the 2017 launches of Crown Media’s third linear network, Hallmark Drama. As a key creative liaison with Crown Media parent company, Hallmark Cards, she also conceived and executed synergistic opportunities with the card division and Hallmark’s other brand extensions, including the nearly 3,000 Hallmark Gold Crown® retail stores.

Prior to Crown Media, McAvoy held senior corporate, affiliate and ad sales marketing positions with companies such as Oxygen Media, Comcast Spotlight and MTV. She began her career with Turner International in Hong Kong.

McAvoy has been named one of Advertising Age’s Women to Watch, a Marketer of the Year by Cablefax, and a Multichannel News Wonder Woman, among numerous other industry accolades and affiliations throughout her career. In 2018, McAvoy and her team were awarded CableFax’s Marketing Team of the Year, and she has been featured on the CableFax 100 list and among CableFax’s Most Powerful Women in Cable. Her work has earned her an Ad Council Silver Bell Award, multiple Promax/BDA and CTAM Mark awards, and Cable Advertising Bureau Awards. She has served as director-at-large on the national board for Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), and the organization’s New York chapter and is a WICT Betsy Magness Leadership Institute graduate.

McAvoy graduated with honors from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and psychology.  She resides with her husband and two children in Darien, Connecticut.