Yahoo Finance Showtime and CBS Alum Christina Spade Launches Alexun Advisory Firm
Christina Spade, the former chief financial officer for Showtime and CBS Corp., has launched Alexun Advisory, a consulting firm focused on helping to guide companies on long-term operational and planning decisions.
Spade aims to distinguish Alexun’s offering from other consulting shingles that have proliferated in recent years with an emphasis on how to plan and strategize on long-term decisions for companies at various stages of growth cycles. Spade most recently has been working in an advisory capacity to startup firms including AI ventures.
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“I’ve always focused in my career on the important of value creation for a company. That has always really reasonated with me as a priority. It’s more than just a buzzword,” Spade told Variety.
The process of making sure that a company is generating the kind of products and services that gain value over time — i.e. successful TV shows and movies for a Hollywood studio or network — can be hard to track when a company is in the throes of figuring out its day-to-day operational strategy, she said.
“Based on my years of experience, I am able to help CEOs see how to create value. You have to have the right people, the right business strategy, a nimbleness and the financial wherewithal to make it happen,” Spade said.
The moniker Alexun refers to something that is “a powerful stimulator, while emphasizing humanity,” according to Spade. The boutique operation is based in New York.
Spade spent 20 years as a senior financial executive and ultimately CFO for with Showtime Networks. She was promoted to CFO for parent company CBS in 2018. She steered all financial activities for CBS Corp. during its 2019 merger with Viacom. After leaving in the post-merger shuffle, Spade served a two-month tenure as CEO of AMC Networks in 2022. The company made a sharp strategic turn amid the upheaval in the pay-TV sector that year.
Since exiting AMC Networks, Spade has worked as a private consultant to a range of firms. The experience has sharpened her understanding of the demand among C-suite executives for coaching and guidance on long-horizon decisions, investment and capital allocation plans. Alexun Advisory pitches its services as a contrast to other large media and entertainment advisory firms that zero in on handling restructurings and other tasks on a project-by-project basis.
“There is a need for this type of focus,” Spade said. “It’s important to create greater awareness about the importance of long-term goals and how they help define a company’s mission, purpose and what value-creation means for them.”
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