6. Bonnie Hammer

All things considered, Hammer might be happier focusing her energies outside the business. The published photographer admits, "I'd love to be walking on the beach with my dog, taking pictures with my old Nikon." But in March, the former Lifetime executive took a different kind of shot, with a new title that puts her in charge of original scripted content in NBC Universal's cable group and the emerging networks group. She continues to oversee networks including Sci Fi and USA, which hit an all-time ratings high this past July with its original fare. USA has been the No. 1 destination in basic cable for the past two years and currently reaches as many as 25 million viewers in a week. But Hammer isn't satisfied. Her sights are set on exploiting the synergy of her domain by mining original content for the Web and DVD. It should be interesting to see what develops.