Cyril M. Schneider (June 11, 1929 – February 22, 1994) was an American advertising executive and author. He is best known for his work in children's advertising for Mattel and as the president of Nickelodeon from 1980 to 1984.
In 1980, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment hired Schneider to be the new president of the Nickelodeon network. Before his appointment, Dr. Vivian Horner was the founder and head of Nickelodeon (she continued to work alongside him until 1983). Despite introducing popular programs such as You Can't Do That on Television to the lineup in 1981, Nickelodeon operated at a loss of $10 million dollars, and at one point had the lowest number of viewers compared to other cable channels by 1984.
From 1984 to his death in 1994, Schneider worked at Bozell, an advertising agency in New York, and served as its corporate vice president from 1988 until 1994. In 1987, he wrote a book about children's advertising and programs called Children's Television: The Art, the Business and How it Works.
Schneider died from cancer on February 22, 1994 in New York.