• by Joe Mandese , June 3, 2026

For the second time in as many years, the Center for Communications has named a top buy-side executive -- Horizon Media Founder and CEO Bill Koenigsberg -- the recipient of its annual Frank N. Stanton Award for Excellence in Communication.

Last year, the center named Starcom's Shelby Seville the awards first-ever buy-side recipient.

The award, now in its 43rd year, is named in recognition of the center's founder Frank Stanton, and has historically been bestowed on legendary media industry execs, such as past winners Ted Turner, Katharine Graham, Johnny Carson, and Bill Paley.

"Bill has spent more than three decades proving that the way you build a business matters as much as the business you build," Google Managing Director of Global Partnerships, Media, Entertainment and Distribution US/CA and Center Chairman Shane Peros noted in a statement, adding: "His belief that business is personal is not just a philosophy — it is a model for how our industry can operate with integrity, ambition, and genuine care for the people within it."

The award will be presented during a special event in New York City on September 24.