Below is a compilation of the latest moves in the industry.
IMH, the parent company of Myspace, Specific Media, Xumo and Vindico, announced on Oct. 28 a number of personnel changes. Jeff Collins, a 20-year veteran of Turner Broadcasting, joined IMH as chief revenue officer. Jason Knapp will serve as chief product officer Myspace’s Linh Chung as chief information officer, while Jon Schulz was elevated to chief marketing officer.
Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin have been appointed to lead the North American division of the new venture formed by the merger of Shine Group, Endemol and Core Media. As chairmen and CEOs, Abrego and Corwin will report to new president Tom Hincks. They formerly served as coCEOs of Endemol North America, under Hincks.
BBC Worldwide North America announced Oct. 27 that Nigel Gaines had been upped to chief financial officer, effective immediately. A seven-year veteran of BBC Worldwide North America and previously its senior VP finance, Gaines will supervise all financial operations and report to president Herb Scannell.
Rich Ross will be the new president of the Discovery Channel, beginning in January. Previously the CEO of Shine America and an executive at Disney, Ross will report to Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav. He takes over for Marjorie Kaplan, the interim head of the channel, who will continue to run TLC and Animal Planet.
Richard Licata is stepping down as executive VP, communications, NBC Entertainment. Chairman Bob Greenblatt made the announcement to staff in an email. Licata, who joined NBC in 2011 from Showtime, previously worked with Greenblatt at Fox Broadcasting and is expected to stay with the network in a consulting role.
Bill Lord will serve as station manager and executive news director at WUSA Washington. Lord was the news director and then general manager at WJLA Washington until Sinclair acquired the station. Sinclair group manager Dan Mellon left his role as general manager of WJLA and sister network NewsChannel 8 in August.
Toby Byrne has been elevated to president of advertising sales for Fox Network Group. Formerly Fox Broadcasting’s president of sales, Byrne will oversee the broadcast network and its cable channels in the new role and report to chief operating officer Randy Freer.
Fox Broadcasting executives Shana C. Waterman and Jeni Mulein have left the company, which is reorganizing its event-series department. David Madden, entertainment president, will take control of event series during the department’s restructuring. Waterman had been senior VP of event series and multiplatform programming.
Crown Media Family Networks has added Jodi McCulloch to the company as director, distribution, it announced Oct. 27. McCulloch, a 14-year veteran of the Walt Disney Company, had been director of distribution for Al Jazeera America. Based in Denver, she will report to VP of distribution Lisa Barroso.
The FCC’s Media Bureau has added several staff members. Kalpak Gude will serve as associate bureau chief, Julissa Marenco as assistant bureau chief, Susan Singer as chief economist and Holly Sauer, senior counsel, as associate bureau chief as well.
The new venture formed by the merger of Shine Group, Endemol and Core Media has a president, Tom Hincks, the company announced Oct. 27. Hinks, who will be based in London, will report to CEO Sophie Turner Laing. After four years as CEO of Endemol U.K., Hincks became president of the company’s operations in the U.S. and U.K. in 2012.
Broadpeak announced Oct. 27 that it has hired Hubert Legrix de la Salle as sales director of Brazil. Based in São Paulo, Legrix de la Salle will help improve sales efforts and revenue opportunities in the country for the company, which provides live and video-on-demand servers and content delivery network technologies.
Global brand management company Genius Brands International has named Rebecca Hershinger, previously the CFO of SpectrumDNA, Inc., as chief financial officer. In addition, GBI has elevated controller Matthew Kornberg to VP of finance. Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward made the announcements Oct. 27.
The Digital Marketing Association undertook its elections at its annual business meeting in San Diego. JoAnne Monfradi Dunn will continue as chairman of the board through 2015, while Julie Bernard was elected as vice chair, Suresh Mathai as treasurer and Buell Duncan as secretary.
The National Weather Association has named The Weather Channel’s on-air meteorologist Mike Bettes Broadcaster of the Year. Bettes, who has covered a multitude of extreme weather events since joining The Weather Channel in 2003, was honored for his efforts to educate viewers on the science and danger of tornadoes.
ARRI Inc. announced Oct. 24 that Wilson Zeferino had joined as the new director of sales, Latin American markets. Zeferino, who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English, will supervise sales efforts and customer services in the Caribbean, Central American and South America while advancing business and strategy.
The Cabletelevision Advertising Board has added Viamedia President and CEO Mark Lieberman to its board of directors. Viamedia, the independent provider of outsourced local TV ad services, made the announcement Oct. 24. CAB’s members include ad-supported cable networks, system operators and interconnects.
Comcast/NBCU has welcomed Mitch Rose as senior VP, government affairs, in Washington. Rose, who had been doing consulting work for Comcast and the NCTA, will report to David Cohen, Comcast’s executive VP, and Kim Harris, NBCU’s executive VP and general counsel.
Kyle Killen has signed a two-year overall deal with Paramount Television and True Detective producer Anonymous Content. Killen, who previously led Awake, Mind Games and Lone Star for 20th Century Fox, has partnered with Scott Pennington, the former AMC VP of scripted programming, on the company.
The Digital Marketing Association has tapped Lindsay Hutter as senior VP of communications. An executive VP at Hill & Knowlton, Hutter will be based in Washington and in attendance at DMA2014, DMA’s annual conference, in San Diego, beginning Oct. 25.
The International Telecommunications Union has elected Houlin Zhao to be its next secretary-general. Zhau, who is from China, will begin his four-year term on Jan. 1, 2015, succeeding Dr. Hamadoun Touré. Zhao, a telecom engineer who had served as deputy secretary general, ran unopposed and received 152 of the 156 votes cast.
The NBA freelancer in Liberia who contracted Ebola is free of the disease. NBC News President Deborah Turness announced that Ashoka Mukpo, a cameraman for chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman, would be going home to Rhode Island soon. Turness also announced the end of the 21-day quarantine for Snyderman and her team as of Oct. 22.
NewBay Media announced Oct. 22 that Louis Hillelson, the VP/group publisher of B&C, Multichannel News and Next TV since 2010, was departing on Oct. 24. Hillelson joined B&C and Multichannel News as director of technology advertising in 2010. NewBay Media CEO Steve Palm will serve as group publisher in the interim.
Bunim/Murray is opening up shop in New York City. The West Coast production company has selected producer Rob Bagshaw as senior VP of development and production in the new East Coast branch. The company producer The Real World, Project Runway and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Pay-TV veteran Lindsay Gardner has been appointed content advisory board chair of Denver startup Layer3 TV. Formerly of Fox Networks and Cox Communications, Gardner will be tasked with helping the company recruit core programming talent and forge partnerships with programmers and other content providers.
