John Ford is general manager of NPACT, the trade organization serving producers of nonfiction entertainment content. With 100+ member companies, including production companies of all sizes, as well as allied services companies, NPACT members collectively produce the majority of all non-fiction content for US broadcast, cable television and digital platforms.

Ford served as president and GM of Discovery Channel from 2007 through the end of 2009, and also served as president and general manager of Discovery’s Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel, whose conversion to Investigation Discovery (ID) he initiated. He also was EVP, Programming and Production for the National Geographic Channel from 2003-07 and, prior to that, 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.

Ford 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: Trendwatch 2020: What's on the Way for the Unscripted Business