Erin McIlvain

Erin McIlvain was appointed Senior Vice President of Affiliate Distribution and Marketing for The CW Network in January 2024. She is responsible for managing the network’s distribution and overseeing affiliate relations with its station group partners.

Throughout her nearly 20-year career in the media business, Ms. McIlvain has held leadership positions in distribution, marketing, and affiliate relations for some of the country’s largest cable, satellite and telco providers including DISH Network, Charter Communications, and Crown Media Holdings, Inc. (owner of the Hallmark channels).  She joined The CW from GAM Media (“GAM” “Great American Media”), a general entertainment, family-friendly cable network, where she served Chief Officer, Distribution and Content Strategy. She was one of the founding officers of the company and was responsible for overseeing distribution, government relations, marketing, and operations. In less than two years, she and her team grew GAM’s distribution from 31 million television households to more than 50 million, making it one of the fastest-growing cable networks in the United States.  She also launched the company’s first direct-to-consumer offering and its first FAST channel.

Prior to her time with GAM, Ms. McIlvain was Executive Vice President for Distribution and Content Strategy for Crown Media Holdings, Inc., where she led the team responsible for distribution, including finance, operations, government relations and affiliate marketing for the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama. She spearheaded the launch of Hallmark Drama as a zero-subscriber channel and grew its distribution to more than 40 million television households.

Ms. McIlvain graduated from The University of Colorado at Boulder and earned her law degree from the University of Denver College of Law.