 James P. Jimirro is the creator and founding President of The Disney Channel and Walt Disney Home Video. During his tenure at the helm of The Disney Channel, Mr. Jimirro was responsible for the conception, development and launching of the fastest-growing pay service in history. Under Mr. Jimirro’s guidance, The Disney Channel introduced many innovations, such as interactive programming and The Disney Channel Magazine.
The channel achieved profitability in less than two years and has remained a jewel in the world-wide array of Disney products and services. From 1979 to 1985, Mr. Jimirro was President of Walt Disney Home Video and during this period was a pioneer in the industry. He introduced a number of innovations in the marketing of home video, among them the world’s first home video direct-marketing campaigns. By 1991 Mr. Jimirro, having started his own public company, J2 Communications, acquired a moribund National Lampoon and spearheaded the effort to successfully turn the company (and the legendary brand) around. The Company was sold in 2017. Mr. Jimirro received his BA degree in Radio-Television from Penn State University, and a Masters in Mass Communications from Syracuse University. Mr. Jimirro is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars), and serves on the Board of Visitors for the College of Communications at Penn State. He is a Director Emeritus of the Westwood Village Business Improvement District, and Theatre LA. He is listed in Who’s Who in America. He has been honored as Distinguished Alumnus by Penn State and was the Vision Fund of America honoree for achievement in the entertainment industry. Mr. Jimirro has maintained a life-long interested in the broader aspects of media and society. He is the author of numerous articles on this subject. To further his interest in this area, Mr. Jimirro has endowed at the Paley Center for Media in New York The James P. Jimirro Media Impact Series. This on-going program brings together prominent media personalities to explore media and society in a thoughtful and nonpartisan fashion. Media professionals that have appeared in this series include Lesley Stahl (CBS), Bill Hemmer (Fox), Nancy Gibbs (Times Magazine), Rich Lowry (National Review) and former Presidential press secretaries Joe Lockhart (Clinton) and Ari Fleischer (Bush 2). In another media initiative, Mr. Jimirro has endowed a permanent professorship at his alma mater, Penn State. The James P Jimirro Professorship in Media Effects, housed at the College of Communications, provides the wherewithal for one known and respected scholar to explore, research, write about and teach the continuing effects of all forms of media on human behavior, including voting patterns, buying habits, and even thought. On another front, Mr. Jimirro is active in a number of enterprises involving the Great American Songbook, the music of Porter, Rodgers and Berlin, et al. These include having served for ten years as chairman of the selection committee for the Traditional Pop category at The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammys). He has established and is Executive Producer of the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, which produces an annual series of Broadway Musical revivals in New York. The company has already garnered a loyal following and is the recipient of a number of theater awards. He conducts a popular lecture series on this music at the Beverly Hills Public Library, at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and at other venues worldwide. This series, and its impact on those who attend, is the subject of a documentary, “Jim J’s Jukebox”. |
Discovering America's Music