John Ford is general manager NPACT, the entertainment trade association dedicated to serving the producers of non-fiction entertainment content. With 100+ member companies, including production companies of all sizes, as well as allied services companies, NPACT serves as the voice for the non-fiction creative community, helping producers tackle the challenges they face in an age of media disruption, and offering a forum for producers to address critical business issues. 

Prior to joining NPACT in 2015, Ford was president and GM of Discovery Channel (2007-2009); he also served as president and general manager of Discovery’s Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel, whose conversion to Investigation Discovery (ID) he initiated. 

From 2003 to 2007, Ford was EVP, Programming and Production for the National Geographic Channel. Prior to that he worked at Discovery Communications for 13 years, re-launching and heading TLC, launching Discovery Health Channel, and heading all content for Discovery Networks US. 

In January 2015, Ford and a team of partners launched Justice Network, a digital multicast network devoted to true-crime programming, where Ford also remains the head of programming. 

He also established John Ford Media, LLC in 2011, and served as head of creative at the short-form content advisory SyncSense, whose clients included TNT, ABC, NGC and Travel Channel. Ford Media's clients have included WE tv, Travel Channel, RLTV and NGC, as well as several non-fiction production companies. 

Under his leadership, Ford’s channels earned numerous primetime and news/documentary Emmy awards, and two Peabody Awards. As a network executive, he has garnered hundreds of production credits as executive producer and executive in charge of production. 

Speaking on: Media 2020